Memories
by maelstrom137
Summary: Jack Darby is now an old man, what reamins of his family is worried about his slipping grasp on reality. Why does he think he knew giant alien robots? This story has two stories running side by side, sort of, one starts at some point in season 2, and doesnt follow it from there, the other is a look at the near future after the war.
1. Chapter 1

47 Years

Chapter 1 – Fading Memories

"C'mon Grandpa Jack, tell us more about the robots"

"Yeah, please Grandpa Jack, you promised"

The two pleading voices came from a pair of children sitting on the floor opposite and old man resting in a large, but uncomfortable looking armchair. The youngest was a little girl who looked to be about four years old, she had dark shaggy hair that framed her inquisitive face while the second child was short but looked to be around the age of seven, short cropped blonde hair adorned the top of his head while a small but distinctive scar ran through his eyebrow, more than likely obtained in some youthful hi-jinks.

The elderly gentleman looked at them with a confused look on his face, something was wrong, why were two children sitting in front of him? Why were they calling him Grandpa? As if to answer these plaguing questions a women in her early thirties began to make her way over to the trio.

"That's enough you two" said the woman, "your grandfather needs his rest"

"Awww, but mom" The boy groaned.

"Come on now Jackie, you too Susan, I think Grandpa Jack has told you enough stories for one day"

The aged figure turn his head towards the woman, he knew her face, pale skin, blonde hair, she looked so much like her mother... His late wife... Her name was... Was...

"Bah" The old man growled, frustrated with his slipping grasp on his own memories, they were his after all, and why they refused to obey him sent anger coursing through his body.

"Okay dad, me and the kids are leaving now" The woman said softly, getting a glazed look for the slumped figure.

"Looks like he's gone again" Sighed the woman, suddenly looking about twenty years older, seeing her father like this always broke her heart, it was the same every time, but it was always worse when moments before his eyes went blank he was laughing and telling his grandchildren fantastical stories about giant robots and a eons old war. While the existence of this warring race of titans had been common knowledge now since before she was born, they had not been seen for years. According to all known sources they're war had ended with the destruction of one of the factions leaders, along with most of the north east of the United States, after that they had apparently left Earth.

"Excuse me, Mrs Darby?" Came a voice that awoke her from her musing.

"It's Miss Darby actually, but please call me Rachael" Replied Rachael Darby

"Of course, Rachael, If you have a minute I would like to speak to you about your fathers condition" said the Doctor, also a woman who looked to the same age as Rachael, she gave the worried woman a warm caring smile and gestured towards what she assumed was her office.

"Of course" said Rachael, looking around for something to occupy her children for a few minutes, with a glance at her father thinking that she could hardly leave them with a man who as far as he knew didn't know them, was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"You go see the doctor sweetheart, I can watch the young ones" Said the old man grinning.

"Uh, okay, uh you kids be good for Grandpa Jack now"

"Okay mom" both kids answered in unison

With another smile and a gesture towards the door, Rachael followed the female doctor to her office. Taking a seat and offing another to Rachael with a wave, the two women sat down and Rachael let out a long sigh.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take doctor...? I'm sorry I didn't catch your name" Asked Rachael

"Its Doctor Jones, Felicity Jones, however Doctor Jones usually leads to jokes about whips so I prefer to be called by my first name"

"Alright Doctor Felicity then"

"Please, just Fliss is fine"

"Okay, Fliss, he's been getting worse hasn't he?" Replied Rachael with a worried face. The Doctor for her part was trying to keep a composed air about her.

"Miss Darby... Sorry, Rachael, your father has very late stage dementia, as you know; there is little that can be done for him now except to make him as comfortable as possible" Said Felicity "However, that being said it is not uncommon for patients such as your father to remember things from much earlier in their lives than more recent events. As is the case with the stories he tells your children" the doctor continued.

Rachael now had to speak up, "That's just the thing, those stories aren't memories, they're just stories, as far as I'm aware my father has never seen a giant robot, let alone been a partner to one, and to believe that he was part of all the mess makes my blood boil after the destruction and death they caused" She was getting angry now, she hated those filthy robots, Cybertronians is what they called themselves, but to her they were all devils.

"Be that as it may Rachael, your fathers accounts of his younger days are very vivid, far more detailed than a story that someone would make up, I think it would be best if..."

"Doctor Jones" Rachael interrupted, instantly becoming formal and more than a bit agitated.

"My father was a Bank manager, it was a job he did my entire life, he went to work, paid his taxes, had his two holidays a year and never so much as got a parking ticket!"

"He was in no way involved with any aliens; don't you think that if he was he would have let it slip just once? I will give you the fact that he never had much of an imagination from what I can remember, but I refuse to believe he had anything to do with... Them"

For her part, the doctor stayed silent while the woman in front of her got some of this pent up rage towards earths once alien visitors out of her system, what had made her so prejudiced towards the robots she could only guess, but it wasn't unexpected. Very few people on the planet had much good to say about them.

"Rachael, I can understand that this is difficult to believe, but here" the doctor said handing her a file. "One of the nurses here has been documenting your father's stories; I believe you know nurse Esquivel?"

"Of course, she's always taken an interest in my father's care" Replied the now calming woman as she took the quite heavy file.

"Jack seems to enjoy telling nurse Esquivel his stories, and this file has become a sort of diary of his earlier life, before he met your mother" The doctor watched for a reaction and was surprised to see none.

"Please Rachael, just have a read of this, I believe there could be answers in that could help your father, while we know he will never recover, I think there is something in that file that could give him some semblance of piece" The doctor said with her warm smile returning.

Rachael let out a sigh "Fine, I'll give it a look over" With that the mousy blonde haired woman stood up to leave, glancing back to the doctor as she was leaving.

"Thank you Fliss, we will see you on Wednesday"

"Goodbye Rachael" the doctor said as the door closed.

"Come on kid's time to go" She hustled the children towards the exit as she placed a kiss on her father's head. "Bye Dad, see you soon"

"Goodbye sweetheart, say hi to your mother for me, when is she going to visit?" The old man questioned his daughter, as Rachael face grimaced with pain. With another sigh she just said "Soon Dad, I'm sure you'll see mom soon" With tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes she turned to her two children, "Say goodbye kids"

"Bye Grandpa Jack" the two kids shouted at the same time.

As the small family got into their crimson saloon Susan piped up with the question Rachael did not want asked.

"Mommy? Why does Grandpa Jack think he's going to see grandma soon? He's not going to heaven yet is he mommy?" The small girl asked with fear in her eyes.

"No sweetie" Her mother replied, "Grandpa Jack is just confused is all"

The answer seemed to leave the small child with more questions but she kept silent as the car drove off to start the journey home.

Later, at the Darby residence, a home that had been in the family since her own grandmother June's day, Rachael poured herself a cup of coffee and opened the file given to her earlier in the hospital day centre. With her children in bed for the night, the women decided it was time to read this supposed account of her father's youth. With a slight dread she opened the first page, and began reading...

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Lost Memories

"C'mon Partner, just this once?" I asked, knowing exactly what the response would be.

"No Jack, think of everything that could go wrong" My motorcycle replied, slightly annoyed I think, this being the third time I'd asked this week, and it was only Tuesday.

"You know I'm gonna have to learn one day? And I can't think of a better teacher than you" I thought I had her now, she didn't like to admit it, but she usually gave in after a little flattery, though never to this request.

"Fine, just until the freeway" she told me, I couldn't believe it, she was actually going to let me drive, I'd had my motorcycle for over eighteen months but the fact that I couldn't drive one had always got to me.

"Okay, here we go" I breathed in deeply as she let control go to me, and almost immediately we started wobbling.

"JACK" She screamed at me through my Bluetooth.

"Okay, it's okay, I got this" I tried to calm her down, "There, see? No more wobbling" She said nothing, clearly a little disturbed by the fact that someone had complete control of her. I don't blame her for that; it would be like giving someone a piggy back and not being able to control your own legs.

As we got closer to the freeway I noticed something strange happening on the control panel in front of me, instead of its usual blinking it was still, simply lit up but with no activity. I decided to say nothing for now, knowing that as soon as we hit the freeway it would begin blinking in time with her overly feminine voice, well overly feminine for a twenty foot robot anyway.

The slip road to the freeway came and went, I was still in control and still no life from the panel in front of me and I began driving down the open road ahead. I knew it wasn't far from our exit and still she remained silent, I was quietly enjoying the freedom of actually driving.

As I smoothly turned into the exit and down onto the clear road back to the base where my motorcycle and the rest of her people lived I was starting to get a little worried that I had not had one solitary peep out of her, not that she was usually over talkative of course, I decided it was time to see what was wrong.

"Uh... Hello? You in there?" I asked the screen in front of me.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah of course... Hey you're doing really well Jack, well done"

"Were you asleep or something?" I asked completely shocked, did she space out on me? What if something happened?

"No, of course not Jack... I guess you can drive that's all, maybe I should have let you do this a while ago, but..."

She trailed off, like she thought better of ending her sentence.

"But what? Come on, don't hold out on me." I asked, just wanting to get to the bottom of this unusual behaviour.

"But nothing" Another short answer, it was getting annoying, but I knew pushing it wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Umm, do you wanna take over again now?" I asked almost automatically releasing control back to her as if there was only going to one answer, however her reply almost floored me.

"No, its fine, you're doing really well, better that you should if you never really have driven a bike before, you may as well just get us to base"

I didn't like her tone, it sounded almost like she didn't care but at the same time cared too much, if I didn't know any better I'd say she sounded hurt. I gave up with a sigh and just continued on to base.

I guess that's the day it started changing, not just between us but with everyone else too. I'd known the autobots for well over a year now and in that time so much had happened, I'd been on a space ship, been hunted by a crazy evil spider bot that wanted nothing more than my head, heck, I'd even been to another planet, me, it was incredible but still, something was coming. I could feel it.

We got to base and I got off the vehicle form of my partner to give her room to transform into her primary mode, however to my surprise she just drove off down one of the many corridors without a word. Something was seriously wrong with her, but if she wasn't going to tell me and I couldn't read minds then I supposed I should just let her get on with her sulk.

The base was massive, a huge missile silo left over from the cold war, all concrete and metal, but ever since I got involved with our alien friends they had made a few changes to accommodate me and the other humans they called friends. Miko and Raf, both found in their usual spot on the couch playing video games. With one last look down the corridor a blue and pink motorcycle just drove off down without a rider, I made my way towards them.

Time soon made its steady way towards curfew, and I began looking around for any sign of my ride home. Miko and her guardian Bulkhead, a massive green wrecking machine had already left, going the scenic route back to town, which for them meant over as many tall and steep dunes as possible. Raf and Bumblebee were just leaving with a beep and a wave as the yellow muscle car sped away.

"Where is she?" I said out loud as I felt the ground start to shake. I turned around to be met with a sight that still had me in awe even after a year and half of seeing it nearly every day.

"Jack" A massively loud yet completely reassuring voice resonated in my ears. "I'm afraid she is otherwise engaged at present, I will escort you to your home."

"Its okay Optimus, I'll just bridge home"

"Are you sure Jackson? It would be no bother" The autobot leader said.

" No its fine really, you should be here in case the Con's show up" I tried to reassure him, though I'm sure he could pick up on my disappointment, feeling like I'd been stood up.

The swirling vortex of the ground bridge fired up and with a simple goodbye I stepped through, although nothing could have prepared me for the sight I would be met with on the other side.

As I said earlier, that was the day everything began to change.

...

"What a load of nonsense" Rachael said out loud.

My father, Jack Darby, riding a motorcycle, that just ridiculous she thought, he hated bikes, she knew that, she once brought a guy home who had a hog and was swiftly told that she was never to get on it. Her mother had never mentioned why he hated them so much, and neither did he, she just knew he did. Whoever this Jack Darby was in this file, given to her by her father's doctor, it was not the one who had raised her.

"Another planet... Please" She once again said out loud, her grandmother had once mentioned that her dad wanted to an astro naught when he was younger, but when she asked him about it he just huffed and told her it was a ridiculous idea, why go into space when there's so much to do on earth, that was his attitude.

Yet still. She was intrigued, as she had told the doctor earlier that day, her father was not one for wild stories, and it must just be the dementia. She sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day and decided to continued reading; at least she could then tell that doctor in no uncertain terms that this was a complete work of fiction.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Distant Memories

I stepped out of the ground bridge to the usual sight of an empty garage. Although without her it seemed emptier. I placed my helmet in its normal spot on the work bench and entered the house.

"Hi Jack" came an unfamiliar voice, well it was familiar but not in my house, what on earth was she doing here? I wondered.

"Uh... Hi Sierra...uhh...What are you doing here?" was all I could come up with, pretty lame and quite rude I suppose, but I really couldn't believe that the girl I'd had a crush on for what felt like forever was in my house, sitting on my couch and from the looks of it talking to my mom.

"Jack, that's no way to talk to a guest in our home" Mom chastised me, "And I didn't hear your bike, something wrong?" She continued with a quizzical look on her face.

"Uh, she was a bit temperamental this afternoon so I uh... Let her in the shop, I'm sure it'll be sorted soon" I lied, but then I couldn't exactly discuss my errant partners mood swing with Sierra sitting right there.

"Hmm" was all the response my mother gave as she got up and headed for the kitchen. "Would either of you two like a drink" She asked.

"No thanks Mrs Darby, I should be going soon, I just wanted to see how Jack wants to go about our homeroom project" Sierra told her politely and turned to look at me.

"Homeroom project? Uh I guess...Uh however you want to Sierra" I weakly replied. Way to go Darby, way to assert yourself, I thought. I couldn't believe she really wanted to do this together, I had forgotten about it to be honest, When Mr Collins pair the class up and gave us this assignment I just assumed I'd do it and print off another copy for her to hand in, that's the way these things usually go for me.

"Well I was thinking maybe we could meet up after school tomorrow and work on it, say my place at 6?" She told me with all the confidence my previous comment in this conversation lacked.

"Yeah, sure, ok, definitely" I agreed.

"Ok, well see you tomorrow Jack, Goodbye Mrs Darby" She called towards the kitchen. I followed her to the door and she left, flooring me with a smile as she did so. Oh god, I knew this wasn't but it felt like I just got a date with the hottest girl in school, which if you include doing homework and in this instance I did, then that's just what happened.

Just as I made my way to the kitchen I heard the ground bridge fire up in the garage, I bolted straight there, dying to tell this latest development to my partner who I assumed had just decided to come back, but was met simply with the hum and light of an open ground bridge. I waited a few seconds and still nothing, this was strange, they couldn't leave the bridge open for long, something to do with ripping a hole in time and space, which if happened in the garage, my mom would flip, so I just hoped someone came through soon or it just closed.

Suddenly my cell went off, I looked at the caller ID but it came up unknown, I opened the flip phone with some trepidation "Hello" I said more of a question than a greeting.

"Jack... Jack? Can you hear me? Get your mother and get through the bridge now" The line was crackling but it was definitely Ratchet, the autobot medic sounded almost scared.

"Ratchet? What's going on?" I asked, a little scared myself

"There's no time Jack, They're nearly there, just get in the bridge, NOW"

He shouted the last word, thankfully mom was just poking her head around the door way to see what all the commotion was and as I grabbed her arm to drag her though the swirling vortex in front of us it happened.

...

This is getting very strange now, though Rachael Darby as she poured her third cup of coffee of the night. Sierra? She knew that name, she was her biology teacher in high school, there couldn't be too many people with that unusual first name, but she never once let on that she knew her father. As far as she was concerned, these delusions were getting stranger by the page. As if deciding to get some answers from somewhere she reached for the phone.

Looking through the address book in she found the number she was looking for, her father's carer before he was permanently incarcerated in the hospital, the woman who had been writing all this down as if the somehow make an old man's insanity real.

"Hello, Nurse Esquivel?" Rachael asked as soon as she heard the other end pick up,

"Yes Rachael, Is something the matter?" Came a sweet sounding voice from the other end.

"Well to be honest Tina, yes, something is very wrong. I'm reading this little "project" you and my father have been working on and I must say I'm NOT impressed, how can you so easily concede to an old man's ramblings? And to write them down is only fuelling his delusions" Rachael was almost screaming down the line, trying however to be quiet enough not to wake the kids.

"Rachael please" Came Tina Esquivels calm voice. "I know this is all a lot to take in, and to be honest when Fliss told me she wanted to give you the file I didn't think you would have taken it, but you should know that these stories your father tells are not fiction, he asked me to write it all down, he called his last confession" She said sadly.

"CONFESSION? You make it sound like he was some sort of criminal" The angry woman retorted.

"I understand if you don't want to believe it, I really do, after what happened to your husband I..."

"Don't you DARE bring my FIANCE into this" Rachael cut the nurse off,

" As I'm sure you're well aware we never got married, we never got to, not after her was taken away from me by THEM, the very same DEMONS you now tell me my own father was associated with!"

"Rachael listen to me, did you ever stop to wonder why I took such an interest in your Jacks care? It wasn't just my duty of care to my patient but because my own father asked me to look after him" Tina told her, starting to lose her own composure a little, she continued "My father was once a very good friend of Jacks, the Raf in that file is my father, Raphael Esquivel, he asked me to take extra care of Jack, and for my part I always tried too, I never told him who my father was for two years because my dad told me not to, but in the end Jack figured it out and asked me to write down these "delusions" as you call them.

Rachael was silent now, but shaking, she couldn't tell if it was anger or fear, she started wondering if it could be true. Her own father, caught up with those murderous bastards. Realising she was still on the phone but with nothing more to say she went to hang up,

"Okay Rachael, if you feel you need more proof your father told me there is a trunk in the loft, in it is what he called memories of those days, if you feel the need then look for it, it might give you some answers" the nurse spoke quietly now, as if not to spook the already shaken women on the other end anymore.

"Fine Tina, but I can honestly tell you that I still don't believe any of this, and tomorrow I'll be calling the hospital to request taking you off my father's care rota, I'm sorry it came to this, but I cannot let it continue any longer" and with those final words she put the phone down.

This all had to be a lie, if it was true then she felt this would be an ultimate betrayal, however part of her wanted to continue reading, taking a sip from her now cool coffee and composing herself once more, she reopened the file, although she hated the fact, she wanted to know what happened next.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Painful Memories

I woke up three days later in the same hospital my mother worked in, nobody would tell me what had happened, and to be truthful, I don't think they knew themselves. Back then the autobots and decepticons were still national secrets and I saw nobody but regular doctors and nurses. They did tell me my mom was fine though and that lifted a weight off my shoulders, and what I assumed was the cover story in that a gas leak had caused an explosion in our garage. I remember being so grateful that my guardian had not come home with me that night, whatever had caused this could have injured her too and that thought made me sick to my stomach, I knew I never really could but I always wanted to protect her.

In another two days I was released from the hospital, I had a broken leg and the doctors had told me that I might have a limp for quite some time; it might never even go away. Never being one for sports or having any type of athletic tendencies, I wasn't too bothered. I just wanted to get to base and make sure everyone was ok. When I hobbled outside on my crutches I was surprised to see a large red and white ambulance waiting for me, I knew it was for me because it didn't exactly look like a regular ambulance but was the alternative mode of the autobots chief medical officer, Ratchet.

To say I wasn't a little disappointed that my guardian and partner wasn't the one picking me up was an understatement, was she still in whatever mood had caused her to ditch me almost a week ago? Still pondering this I opened the passenger side door and entered the ambulance to be greeted by a middle aged man in a green paramedic uniform. Although he was sitting in the driver's seat you could tell the man was a little taller than average, had white hair and white stubble covering the lower half of his face that had no real distinguishing features. What I was now staring at was Ratchets holographic driver, a form of camouflage the autobots used in order to keep up the appearance of being merely a vehicle, and while this hologram definitely looked human, something was certainly wrong with it, it had a face, but as I said, nothing on it stood out, it was somehow unnerving.

This must be why I had never seen my motorcycles holo-rider without her helmet on, while the hologram she called Sadie had what can only be described as a body any man would die for, and any woman would kill to have, I had never seen her face. I guessed that a face through a windshield could be blurred to passersby as it was, but on a bike it could raise some questions.

"Finished staring Jack?" came a voice, not from the form next to me, but somewhere in the dashboard.

"Uh, sorry Ratchet was just the first time I've seen the human version of you that's all" I replied

"Humph...Human version indeed, this is simply a facsimile of a human that we have to wear Jack, it is no more me that your own trousers are you" He reprimanded me.

"Okay, point taken, so where is everyone? And where's my mom? I thought at least she would be here" I asked him, a little upset.

As if picking up on my disappointment that I was not leaving with my usual ride he simply told me that the rest of the team where out on patrol and that my mom would meet me at base, without another word we sped off towards the outskirts of town.

We reached the base after a journey in complete silence, I exited the emergency vehicle and as soon as I didn't, the familiar sound of a transformation echoed behind me and Ratchet walked off to his station without another word. These was becoming a regular thing, just drop Jack off and walk away, I remember thinking.

I headed towards the human area of the silo to try and find anyone but it was empty. Was nobody here? Did nobody care? Then I heard my mother's voice behind me.

"Jack! Your here, thank God your ok, I'm so sorry I couldn't be there sweetheart" She apologised,

"That's okay mom" I tried to reassure her, "Where is everyone anyway? And can someone please tell me what the hell has been going on?" I was getting a little angry now, I knew if Ratchet didn't want to tell me anything, then he wasn't going to, but to only see my mom here got my back up.

"Its okay Jack, its okay, calm down and I'll try and explain as best I can" She put her hand on my arm and helped me to the couch.

For the next half hour my mom told me what had happened, though I don't think she told me everything, she began with telling me what happened five nights ago. After I grabbed her arm something had hit the garage, not only did it blow the building to rubble but had also reacted with the open ground bridge, causing a chain reaction in its systems and basically destroying it from the inside out. The force of the blast had sent my mother flying back into the house where thankfully she landed on the softness of couch. I on the other hand fared worse, while the initial shockwave had, by some miracle sent me flinging out of the garage, it had done so via the window at the back, my leg had broken then and I was knocked un conscious. Then my mom began to get angry.

"All this happened because of her Jack" She almost shouted, angry at my partner.

"What do you mean mom? It's not as if she tried to blow up the house herself" I told her, angry myself at the implication that she would ever knowingly harm us. Mom then began one of the most venomous rants I'd ever heard.

"It happened because she wasn't there Jack! From what Optimus and Ratchet have told me, our house could have been under surveillance for months, every since you went to that God forsaken planet to help them." She stopped to take a breath then continued.

"Apparently Soundwave or whatever he is called has a little... Minion, too small for their regular scanners to detect, it has been staking out our home Jack, our home! Just waiting for a moment to strike, and when the time was right it called in its master and the attack was launched".

She was shaking now, I could see why she would be angry, but there was something else, I needed to get to the bottom of it. Just then however we we're interrupted but the sound of engines roaring down the entrance to the base. I guessed with the ground bridge out of commission they had to drive everywhere and I was sure that would only exasperate the already frayed emotions I was picking up on.

As they all transformed and stood up I finally saw her again, her blue, pink and grey plating, glinting in the dim light of the base. She always made me catch my breath when I saw her, always so strong and confident, but something was different, her head was slightly lulled, her "wings" pointing slightly down and no expression I could read on her faceplates. Even her usually bright blue optics seemed dull and had lost their usual fire.

Everyone made their way over to where me and mom were; Optimus was the first to speak,

"Jack, it grieves me endlessly that something like this has happened, that you and mother have once again been put in harm's way due to our seemingly never ending struggle". While he was usually stoic at the best of times, now the red and blue giant seemed even more so, I'd only ever seen him like this once before, when Raf was infected with Dark Energon.

"Its okay Optimus, I know none of you meant for this to happen" I tried to reassure him.

"Be that as it may Jack, you should know that steps are being taken to ensure that nothing like this happens again, to you or any of our human charges". He told me.

"What steps? What do you mean, please, I know I don't have the full story yet, so could somebody please just tell me what is so wrong?" I was getting angry again, looking around at the room at each of them in turn. Bumblebee just looked at the floor, as did Bulkhead. I then noticed that neither Miko nor Raf was with them and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

"Where's Miko? Where's Raf? WHAT IS GOING ON?" I shouted now, my face was burning red and I was shaking.

"Jackson Darby! Control yourself" My mom reprimanded me. I huffed and looked around again, noticing my partner edge further away, I looked at her pleadingly, wanting her to be close, Then I was startled when she suddenly looked up almost in fear as my mother voice angrily tore away at the silence that was descending.

"DONT YOU DARE LEAVE!" She almost screamed at my cerulean guardian, "This is all your fault, you know that and I know that, so don't think you can slink away while my son is clearly upset and for some reason still wants you here"

After that latest outburst nobody said a word, unsure of where this was going I looked at my mom, and simply asked "Why?"

"Because Jack, If she had come home with you that night, and stood by you, and protected you like she has supposedly promised, none of this would have happened, only it seems you hurt her feelings and so she couldn't be bothered" The last few words almost slithered out of my mother's mouth like poison.

"I hurt your feelings?" I asked my sullen friend, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know, what did I do?"

She looked up at me finally but all I could see in her eyes was guilt, before she could say anything my mom once again flew off the handle.

"Don't, just don't Jack, Why should you be sorry, because of all this we can't go home, we can't leave this hell hole of concrete yet. When the decipticons realised she wasn't with you it gave them the opportunity they were waiting for" She stopped for a second to look at Bumblebee and Bulkhead who both still looked at the floor then continued.

"Miko and Raf cannot come here anymore either, it's not safe, not for any of us, we can't go home, I can't go to work, lord knows what everyone thinks has happened to us, and it's all because of her" She pointed as she shout that last word.

Just as I was about to defend my partner, and rather forcefully, thankfully Optimus interrupted.

"June please calm yourself, I believe all of us here are suffering from these recent events, Jack and his partner more so than you may think, I believe it would be best if we gave them a chance to talk about the changes that will be made privately". The Prime said trying to ease the situation, all I wanted to do was what he had just suggested, however I knew my mom would have other ideas.

"Optimus, if you think for one second I'm going to leave my son alone with..." She began but I cut her off,

"Mom, this really isn't open for discussion" I said trying to sound forceful, though the fact that I was already hobbling half way down the stairs showed that I was basically running away from her. Without another word I started down the nearest corridor gesturing for my partner to follow, which she did after one last glance at my seething mom.

I found a storage area in a quiet corner of the base and sat on a small plastic container left over from its days as a military outpost. As I sat my face curled up in a grimace, walking even this far had taken its toll on my leg and I was now in quite a bit of pain, picking up on this my cobalt guardian lower to one knee and reached out, but retracting her hand before any physical contact, as if some force field separated us.

"Jack, I'm so sorry, your mom is right, this is all my fault" She said.

"That's enough" I told her sternly, she seemed slightly taken aback but before she could argue I continued.

"I still don't understand everything, but I do know that this could not be your fault, and more importantly I seem to have somehow hurt your feelings, what did I do? I don't know but I want to so I can try and make it right"

She just stared at me, she did this for what felt like minutes but finally looked almost angered.

"ME? Really Jack, you want to know what you did to me? You think that's important now? I know what the doctors said Jack, you might have permanent damage to your leg, your only seventeen, even I know that's young for humans, far too young for a permanent injury that could affect you for the rest of your life" she motioned at my leg as she spoke, guilt once again filling her usual confident optics.

"Its okay" I told her "I'm not much for walking anyway, and besides I've got a kick ass ride to get me around" I ended with a grin, and despite herself the left half of her face curled up in a half hearted smile.

"That's the problem Jack, I can't be your guardian anymore" She said, sadness in her voice.

"WHAT? What are you talking about? Is whatever I did that bad? Please tell me" I asked her, pleading.

"Enough already with that Jack, please, it's your mom, not anything you have done" she replied.

"My mom? I know she's mad but she can't make decisions like that for me, or you" I tried to comfort her. "And I don't care if she's mad it's not happening"

"Yes she can Jack, your still a minor, when she told what would be happening I looked into it, not wanting you to leave, and while i may call myself your guardian, she's your LEGAL guardian, there's nothing we can do" She said staring at the floor.

"Well what is it that will be happening then?" I asked.

"Witness protection" She replied.

"What like new names? New lives? I don't think so!" I said defiantly.

"Yes, new names, new lives... and..." She trailed off.

"And what?" I said, scared at the answer.

"No contact with your previous lives, we can't see each other anymore Jack, I'm really sorry, if only I'd come home with you that night" She said, her voice cracking, if she could cry I'm sure she would be, since I was welling up myself.

I stayed quiet for a few moments, thinking to myself what my options were, settling on one I spoke.

"Do you trust me?" I enquired.

"Of course I do, that's not even a question, and though I can't understand why I can see in your eyes you still trust me" She told me.

"Don't be stupid, I could never STOP trusting you, but look, if this is happening, its only happening till I'm eighteen, then I'm coming back, if my mom wants a new life then that's up to her, but I'm far too involved in this now to walk away". I said, confidence in my voice.

"Again" she said.

"Again? What do you mean?"

"You left before Jack? Remember? When we first met". She reminded me.

"Yes, I remember, but you came back for me didn't you? And so I guess I'm asking, would you come back for me again?" I asked her, hoping to get the answer I wanted.

"In a spark beat... partner... I'll always come back for you" She said the last few words sheepishly, like she was admitting some unspoken truth.

"Well then, that's all sorted, it won't be long, I promise, I'm eighteen in 5 months, then its you and me versus the world ok?" I said happily.

"Heh, ease up there kiddo, there'll be no versus anything, you're a little small for that I'm afraid". She told me mockingly.

"Yeah yeah, always focusing on my height, some would call you sizeist you know" I spoke sarcastically, happy to have some of our usual banter going after what had been happening earlier. With all the needed to be said we sat in silence for a while, before I asked her the question that had been on my mind since we started talking.

"So what is it I did? If I have to go away for a while I don't want to go guessing, so please tell me, I think I deserve to know".

She looked me dead in the eye, and with what can only be described as a sigh, she said.

"Okay, you win..."

...

"Whoa" Rachael said to no one, since she came home from visiting her father earlier that day she had put her children to be and started reading the file her father's doctor, Felicity Jones, had given her.

She still could not believe that any of this was true, for a start there was her grandmother, June, in her memories she was the kindest, most caring woman who ever lived and never once had she heard her raise her voice, they way she was portrayed here was nothing like the woman she remembered.

But more disturbingly was her fathers, relationship, with this motorcycle, something about the way he referred to her was strange but she couldn't put her finger on it, it was different to the others, but it was more than that, it was as if a major detail was missing but couldn't figure out what. The man in this story however was clear attached to this alien robot and she knew that could not be her father. Her Jack Darby was a stayed, responsible, ordinary man, who above all else, hated motorcycles.

Although she wanted to stop reading and burn the papers sat in front of her, she knew she couldn't, her curiosity getting the better of her, she carried on reading...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Burning Memories

"Okay... you win, but...well... It just seems so stupid now" My partner was trying to tell me what had come between us nearly a week ago, but she was clearly struggling with it.

"Come on, we don't know how long we've got before my mom comes down here and flies off the wall again" I tried to hurry her along, but it was more wanting to know than fear of my mother.

"Okay, here it goes, you can drive Jack, and that shouldn't bother me, but it does" she blurted out.

"Huh? You're mad at me because we didn't crash the other day? I thought that was a good thing" I replied, scratching the back of my head in confusion.

"No, of course not, it's not that you could do it, it's just that you told me you had never done it before, and I find that a little hard to believe if I'm honest" She told me.

"Wait, what?" I was definitely confused now.

"I mean, it's ok if you drive other motorcycles Jack, you can tell me too, I'm not even a real motorcycle so why it should have upset me I don't know, but it just did, I guess it just felt like you didn't need me for that anymore" she explain.

Silence descended on us for a few moments before I burst out laughing, probably not the best thing to do but I couldn't help it.

"Seriously?" I asked "You're talking as if I've cheated on you or something" I told her, trying to stifle my amusement due the very angered look on her face.

"Cheated?" she enquired.

"Yeah, you know, been unfaithful, gone behind your back, that sort of thing" I explained, sometimes it was easy to forget that these guys weren't from earth and so didn't know a lot of our customs, slang and social conventions.

"Oh, well then yes, I suppose I did feel a little like that" she agreed.

"That's ridiculous you know that don't you? I can tell you right now, hand on heart that there are not other motorcycles, or that there ever will be. Your my first remember?" I tried to reassure her.

"First doesn't mean last Jack" She retorted.

I looked up and heard footsteps coming down the corridor, far too quite to be one of my guardian's race, it left only one possibility, which meant I had to wrap this up quickly.

"Look partner, I don't know where all this has come from all of a sudden, but all I can tell you is you don't have to worry about it ok? I've been on the back of you nearly every day for a year and a half; I was bound to pick up a few things". I still tried to reassure her, but what I really felt was confused. I knew she was quite possessive at times, but usually that's when some 'con or crazy mercenary group was trying to kill me, so before it never really seemed like an issue.

"Its okay Jack, I believe you, and I'm sorry, it was stupid, I know that". She issued as an apology as a figure made its way around the corner, bringing our conversation to an end.

"Jack? Time for some rest, I've given you long enough" my mom said with a stern voice that left no room for argument.

With one last look at my still melancholy partner I picked up my crutches and followed my mom back the main hub, my partner walking in the opposite direction, still not wanting to be around my mom I assumed. I still didn't know what to feel at this point, this new jealousy in my usually calm guardian unnerved me, and I'd have been lying if I said I wasn't a bit annoyed if that was what had kept her from accompanying me home that night. It was certainly something I had to keep an eye on, she almost seemed unhinged and that would not be good for any of us.

I made my way back the couch, the base seemed empty, nobody said a word, the solemn reality of the situation clearly not lost on our cybertronian friends, within minutes of lying down I could hear my mom arguing with Optimus again, but I was far too tired to listen, and slipped away into a deep unbroken sleep.

The next few days were filled with the preparations for our new identities. I had expected Agent Fowler, that autobots human liaison to be dealing with the specifics, but it seemed that could lead to a security breach, he was not allowed to know anything about where we were going or our new names. He did however stop by a few times, it seemed with the ground bridge down, the decepticons had upped their activity around the world, knowing the autobots were, for want of a better word, grounded.

Even Fowler found the base quieter than usual, commenting with the always awkward, "who died?" remark. I always found the special agent a bit strange, while we knew he was a pilot, who apparently had his own jet, we had recently learned that his pen pushing, portly exterior hid the bravery and instincts of an army ranger, and with their mantra being never leave a man behind, I couldn't help feel a little betrayed that he was letting all this happen after all we had been through together. He once helped me go to the other end of the galaxy, and now stayed silent while I was being relocated, never to return.

I did managed to have a few quiet conversations with my partner, to further formulate our plans of my eventual escape from this forced exile, she was however having second thoughts.

"Jack, I don't know if this is going to work, other than your mom thinking I'll have kidnapped you, there's Optimus". She explained

"Optimus? Why would he have a problem?" I pondered

"Simple Jack, we ask your people not to interfere with our ways, they ask the same. If we do this, he'll see it as going against human wishes". She told me.

"Well their not my wishes are they, and I thought that "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings"" I said putting on my best Prime voice.

She laughed at that, it was only a short snap, but it was something I hadn't heard for over a week now and it sounded beautiful.

"To be honest Jack, I don't think he'll be able to argue with that" she conceded.

We still couldn't make that many plans, since neither of us knew where I was going, but we decided to cross that bridge when we came to it. I also managed to get hold of Miko, although the usually spunky Japanese exchange student was not at all in the mood to hear from me, as far as she was concerned I was the reason she and Bulkhead couldn't hang out anymore. I listened to her rant for about five minutes about how she was glad I was leaving because if she saw me she'd kick my ass, however once she was done I could tell she was upset about my impending departure. She told me what had been happening in the outside world. Neither she nor Raf had seen their guardians since a day after the attack on my house.

Raf was taking it really hard, Bumblebee was his best friend, and Raf didn't seem to have many friends other than the young muscle car, Miko and me, which had also upset him further when he found out I wasn't coming back either, he probably felt deserted by us and that made me feel even worse than I already did.

Although we talked for about twenty minutes there was one topic I wanted to bring up but wasn't sure how to broach it. The night of the explosion I had, as far as I was concerned got a date with Sierra, even if it was just to do homework, and since I had obviously missed our date, I wanted to know what she thought. As if picking up on my un asked question she told me what the story at school was.

As far as anyone knew my injuries were far more severe than they actually were, and after I was stabilised I was sent to a specialist clinic for treatment and rehabilitation, which would take months, although of course no one knew where due to it being a complete fabrication. More shocking than anything was Sierra's reaction, Miko told me that she was visibly upset and that she written me a get well card, but having no where to send it gave it to Miko to send to me. I begged her to open it and tell me what it said, but she refused and after what felt like minutes of pleading she told me if I wanted it I'd have to get it myself. Admitting defeat and saying our goodbyes I made a promise to myself that as soon as I got back I the first thing I would do is get that card.

Soon enough me and mom were getting ready to leave, we had our cover stories and new names. I was now Colin Johnson, a seventeen year old from Reno Nevada, at least I was from the same state, my mom was now Martha Johnson, she was still a nurse but the records were changed so her last place of work was Reno, a new job was set up for her to start in two weeks after we were settled, we still didn't know where we were going, and wouldn't till we got there.

A black car was waiting for us outside the base, clearly a secret service car, I never could understand why they though these cars looked inconspicuous, whenever you saw one, you just knew what they were. My mom didn't really bothering saying good bye and just walked towards the exit.

I stood in front of my towering friends and didn't really know what to say, as if to ease this painful process Optimus Prime, the ever stayed leader of this small band of warriors, bent down towards me and put his hand out with a finger pointing forward.

"I believe a human custom to show respect is to shake another's hand" His soothingly authoritive voice quietly boomed.

"Thank you Optimus, for everything" Was all I could say as I grabbed the end of his finger and shook it as best I could. He stood up and stepped back.

Next Bulkhead simply said "See you soon Fleshy" without realising the implications of what he had said until several optics turned to stare at him, letting him know the futility of his statement.

"Oh, right, sorry" he retorted.

Bumblebee simply beeped some incomprehensible string of noises that I just assumed meant goodbye.

"See ya 'Bee" I told him with a smile.

Ratchet was nowhere to be seen, not that I was surprised, so that just left my partner. To give us some space the others silent edged away as my guardian and friend bent down towards me and surprised me when she put her arm around me, drawing me into a hug. It was the first time she had touched me since the accident and I was enjoying the feel of her metal skin again.

She leaned in close to my ear and asked "I will see you soon?"

"That's a promise" I replied, and with that she stood up, I gave a final wave to the others and still, putting my weight on my crutches, made my way after my mom, to our new names and new lives. For now anyway.

...

Rachael glanced at clock on the wall, and was shocked by what she saw. It was three in the morning. She had been reading this file for hours now, but some sort of compulsion had kept her awake to continue examining what she considered to be complete false hoods.

She could not understand how, if her father had gone into witness protection and been given a new name and life, how was he here now as Jack Darby, same for her grandmother, and had been for her entire life. Did he really run off with this motorcycle he seemed far too attached to now? And why was this motorcycle jealous? Their relationship was beginning to grate on her emotions; she hated these walking, talking hulks of destruction and was grateful that they were no longer on her planet.

Without realising it, she was also warming to them, the way this document depicted them was as a friendly, responsible a caring race, which she knew to be untrue, however her father's interactions with them had put them in a different light.

She pondered about going to bed, but knew she was getting no sleep if she did, so she allowed herself to another cup of coffee and reopened the file, she could almost tell herself that something big was coming.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Familiar Memories

We drove for hours, me and mom in the back, with two men in black suits sitting up front in silence; they didn't say a word for the entire eight and a half hour journey. I slept most of the way, but the uncomfortable car seats, and uneasy silence made sure it wasn't restful. When we finally arrived at our new, and as far as I was concerned, temporary home, the agents in front simply gave us a set of keys and pointed to quite a large single story house across the road. We got out and opened the trunk to retrieve what little possessions we had been allowed to bring, which all fitted in two hold alls. Once the bags were out and the trunk closed, the car sped away without another word.

"Well, that was a little rude" My mom quipped as we made our way up the driveway to this strange building that was to be our house.

My leg was really aching now, and my steps very slow, my mom took my bag from me to make it easier, but really I shouldn't have been walking at all, probably doing more damage to the already broken bone and torn muscles.

She opened the door and we were both shocked by what we saw, the place was filled with some serious kit, almost every gadget and appliance you could think of, we both looked at each other and smiled, this was all so much more than we could ever had afforded before and we weren't sure where it all came from, but honestly we didn't care.

Looking around the living room I could see a huge fifty inch flat screen TV on the wall opposite the most comfortable looking couch I had ever seen, below the TV was a brand new playstaion 3, music centre and next to those was a laptop, while taking all this in I heard a scream from somewhere in the house.

"MOM" I yelled, making my way towards the noise as best I could, I found her standing in what could only be described as one kick ass kitchen, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide with wonderment.

"Mom, what's wrong? Why are you screaming?" I asked urgently

"Jack, have you seen this place, this is incredible" she said, not being able to stop her eyes from wandering all over the room, spotting new things that would make her gasp every time. Clearly thinking the same thing we looked at each other with massive smiles and both exclaiming at the same time

"Bedrooms"

We both went off in search of our new rooms, which if the rest of this place was anything to go by, were going to be something special and they didn't disappoint.

I opened a door and found what first I thought was my mom's room, the bed was huge. A full king size bed, and opposite another TV on the wall, I had a desk with a brand-new desktop pc and a set of drawers, which upon inspection I found filled with new clothes. There were two doors, at opposite ends of the room, in one I found a closet with yet more clothes, and in the other I found a bathroom, my own bathroom. Now that was going to awesome.

I went off to find my mom and found her lying on the bed in her new room, arms and legs outstretched, like she had just jumped backwards on to the mattress, which I knew is exactly what she had done. If I thought my bed was big, this thing was huge, and a four poster to boot, something I've never understood but always knew my mom had wanted, she also had her own bathroom, which she was more than pleased with.

"Oh Jack, this is amazing, if all it took was to find some aliens to be able to live like this I would have paid a lot more attention to the X-Files" she joked, that comment had brought me to a shocking realisation as to why we were here and more importantly, what we had left behind.

There was one more door that looked like it could house yet another room, so we decided to open it together, inside was the communal bathroom, and when I say BATHroom I mean it. As far as I was concerned the tub was a swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi style bath at that, surrounded by unlit candles and oils and all that other stuff people seem to put in water in some strange ritual that will help you relax. With almost a glazed look in her eyes, she looked at me and then shuffled me out of this new room,

"See you in hour" she said closing the door, I almost immediately heard water running and guessed it was time for said ritual, laughing to myself I made my way back to my own room and more importantly my own bathroom for a shower, which was very difficult with a cast on your leg, while manageable, it turned a five minute shower in a thirty minute ordeal.

Once done and dry, I search these new clothes for something to wear, I found a pair of blue jeans and a grey top, but before I put it on I had an epiphany, new life? Maybe a new look? It wouldn't be for long, but I felt like I had worn the same outfit for the last year and a half, finding a red t shirt I slipped it over my head and looked in the mirror, my arms were ridiculously pale, especially for someone that lived in a desert.

After exploring the house a bit more I found the garage, it was very much like the one back home, except that it wasn't a pile of rubble of course, inside I was amazed at what I found, a massive, black flatbed truck, my mom would flip when she saw this, she always said she hated them, seeing them as pointless, but I was always sceptical of her protests, while walking around the truck in awe I found something that I really wasn't expecting. It was a bike, a motorcycle, a green and black Ducati, custom paint job too by the looks of it. I was just about to take a seat when I thought of my first motorcycle, my partner and the promise I had made to her. With that thought I left and made my way back into house in search of food.

After my mom had finished her relaxation ceremony, she glanced over at me and asked,

"Jack, how did all this happen? Do we even deserve all this?" sweeping her arm around the room,

As if in answer to her question I noticed the laptop blinking, picking it up and sitting on the couch my mom joined me as I opened it to see an open video with agent Fowlers face on it, we looked at each other for confirmation and pressed play.

"Hey guys whose names I no longer know, I hope you like the pad, since you had to leave everything behind I had a few strings pulled and backs scratched to make sure that this new place was as comfortable as possible, even though I have no idea where you are. Anyway I hope you settle in well, and enjoy your new lives. Fowler out"

"Wow Jack, we really need to thank agent Fowler" Mom said,

"We can't mom, and I'm not Jack anymore remember? I'm Colin now" I said with a hint of disapproval in my voice.

"I know its hard sweetheart, and I know you're going to miss everyone, but this is for the best" She told me.

"I know, it'll just take some getting used to" I lied, I knew I wouldn't be here for too long, even though I had to admit it was pretty nice, and mom seemed to think it was paradise. But as usual, paradise never lasts.

For the next two months I was basically on house arrest, mom had started work two weeks after we arrived and seemed to be settling in really well, making a few friends, and even going on a few dates. Her new guy seemed ok, he was called Richard and even though he tried make me feel comfortable it wasn't really working, but mom seemed happy so I left them well alone. She had however, made me finally act like someone with a broken leg, staying in bed and not moving around too much, for a while I didn't mind, once the insanity of everything had settled in the pain seemed to come on all of a sudden, I guessed it was adrenaline that was keeping it at bay before but now it had decided to attack a vengeance.

All I had to occupy my time was TV and the internet, I tried to contact Miko or Raf a few times though emails and chat rooms, but found that the internet supply to the house was blocked to certain websites and email address, as was the phones and my new cell, but still, I knew I was just biding my time, knowing that in three months I was out of here, and nobody was going to stop me, before that though I had one major obstacle, school.

My cast had finally come off, and with that freedom, came the eventual incarceration of education. My first day was thankfully uneventful, just trying to find my way around, the people here did seem a lot friendlier than back home, and although I tried not to get too attached I was starting to make some new friends, one girl in particular. Her name was Vicky; she was petite with blonde shoulder length hair, a very friendly face and a dazzling smile. We spent our lunch breaks together talking about things that interested us, she had moved here from New York a few months ago for her father's new job so didn't really know anyone either. It was difficult at first to keep to the cover story of being Colin from Reno, but after a while it seemed to come easily enough.

After being away from home for four months I had to admit that I was starting to almost enjoy my new life, while I wanted to be Jack Darby again, this Colin guy seemed to getting along with life a lot easier, no bullies, good grades, no crappy job, and of course Vicky. Anyone could tell we were getting quite close, where it was heading neither of us knew, and didn't mind either, it was nice just to let things happen for a change. But I still missed my family back home, Raf, Miko, the 'bots, and especially my partner. Even though mom had tried to get me to ride the Ducati in the garage, I kept my promise and so the bike sat there gathering dust, which I suppose in its own way was a crime itself.

Above it all though my mom was happy, happier than I had ever seen her. Richard was very good for her and they seemed to be getting very close, with him staying over a few nights a week, making me very glad that her room was separated from mine by the bathroom. I knew that my leaving here would hurt her, but I was hoping that this new guy of hers would help. What I didn't know though, was that not only me, but mom too, were about to get big wake up call, that the past always catches up with you.

I was sitting outside the school on lunch break with Vicky as usual, on what seemed like another usual day, something had been on her mind all morning, but she seemed to have finally decided to voice her thoughts.

"So, Colin, have you got any plans for the weekend?" She asked staring at the floor.

"What do you mean Vic? I thought we'd just hang out again as usual" I chuckled thinking it was an odd question, ever since we had met we had spent most of our free time together, just watching movies or walking around town, everyone assumed we were a couple, and when they called us on it we just both looked awkward, but never really denied it either.

"Well, um, I was wondering if you fancied doing something, you know, with me?" She mumbled the last bit, still fixated on the concrete below our feet.

"I thought I just did say that, didn't I?" I replied

"Yes I know, but I meant, you know like a movie, or food or something, together" she finally looked up at me as she said this.

"Wait you mean like a... date?" I enquired

"Umm, yeah" she said smiling shyly

"Of course I would, although isn't it going to be like a few dates in? we know so much about each other already" That last bit was a lie, she knew all about Colin, my new persona, but nothing about Jack.

I could see she was thinking about something as the bell for the next class rang. I picked up my cane, I still had quite a limp and couldn't support my own weight for very long, but it was getting better, and now I just mostly carried it round just in case, it led to a few Dr House jokes, but they were light hearted, not the usual scathing remarks I used to get back home.

As we started walking, Vicky caught up and grabbed my hand making me turn to her; I liked the feeling of her soft, warm skin wrapped in mine.

"If we're already a few dates in then..."

She cut herself off by pressing her lips to mine, I was shocked at first, but slowly eased into the kiss, enjoying every moment of it, we pulled away and smiled at each other, her smile was truly amazing, but now it seemed to make my heart flutter.

Before continuing on to class I put my arms around her back and drew her in for another kiss, now we were both expecting it was a lot more natural and the world seemed to melt away, and it seemed like nothing could stop this wonderful moment. I was wrong of course.

Lost in our own little world we were brought back to reality by the screeching of tyres and a voice I hadn't heard in months yelled.

"YO, Limps-allot put down the blonde and get in, QUICK"

"Miko?" I exclaimed turning my head to see the overly enthusiastic girl hanging out of the window of a big green SUV. I couldn't believe they were here, why? And more importantly why now?

"Colin? You know them?" Vicky asked, a little bit of worry in her voice.

"Uh, yeah, old friends" at least that wasn't a lie for a change.

Suddenly a red sports car flew around the corner, it had to be Knock-Out, the decepticon medic, and he drove straight for Miko and her guardian, Bulkhead. Seeing the car heading straight for them Bulkhead had no choice but to fire up his engine and floor it down the road, the 'con in close pursuit.

I felt Vicky's hand tighten around mine, I looked down at her and told her to get inside the school, we both turned to make a break for the door when another sound made us look up.

Four deception flyers were above, making a pass over the school, I couldn't believe they were here, so out in the open, Bulkhead was coming back down the road with Miko screaming something I couldn't make out, I looked at Vicky and could see the fear in her eyes, I followed her line of sight and couldn't believe what I was seeing, they had fired a stream of missile towards the road. Time seemed to slow as the purple warheads made their descent towards where the green all terrain vehicle had almost come to stop. Just as they were about to hit their target I saw a beam of blue light come from a neighbouring roof, it hit the first missile and cause it to explode, taking the rest with it.

The shockwave knocked us to the floor, I reached out to find Vicky's hand, she was shaking uncontrollably, I looked up at the roof where the saving shot had been fired from but saw nothing unusual, scanning the rest of the area people were running in panic to find shelter, shouting about a terrorist attack, they weren't entirely wrong, but this certainly wasn't Al-Qaida.

"How are you so calm?" Came a shaky voice from the girl who I was now trying to help up.

"I'll explain later, for now just get inside" I told her.

"What about you?" She asked

"I... I just have to help them" I said as kissed her cheek and began running off as fast as my gammy leg would allow. I heard her scream my name as I made my way to the road, but it wasn't really my name, if they were back, then so was I, I was Jack Darby again. I looked back to see her being dragged inside by one of the teachers, tears in her eyes, I gave her one last smile and continued on.

I made it to the road breathing heavily, I hadn't run in months and it clearly showed, just as I stepped off the side walk, Bulkhead drove off again, the decepticon jets were coming in for another pass, I still couldn't get my head around the fact that they were being so public, Fowler was going to be pissed. I stood there realising that I was now totally open, with no other options, I chased after the direction I thought my would be saviours were headed. And then I heard it.

A noise I had missed so much, the sound of a motorcycle engine, but not just any engine, this one had a distinct hum to it, fuelled by energon and sounding louder than usual I turned my head to see a blue superbike, being ridden by a lithe woman in a black bike suit, heading straight for me, with the ease of a strong bond of trust and as much grace as my leg could muster I hopped onto the sidewalk and then leaped back onto the road, landing on the seat of my sapphire friend as the previous occupant of the seat dissipated into nothing.

"Hey partner, sorry for the early pick up" Came the sweet voice from the console in front of me.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, looking behind me I could see a yellow car speed around a corner on to the same road as ours, I could see that the muscle car had two occupants, one I assumed was Raf, but the other I was amazed to discover was my mom, forming a small convoy we headed towards the edge of town, towards the house we had been living in.

The jets seemed to have gone, and I heard a string of beeps and whirrs come through the console.

"I know I was right 'Bee" my partner replied.

"Right about what?" I asked, still a little shaken up.

"We'll explain all when we're all together, everyone's really excited to be together again, I don't want to spoil it for them Jack... or should I say Colin?" She said with a hint of mockery in her voice.

"Bite me" I retorted, and we both laughed. I was amazed at how easily we slipped back into this, but then I thought about Vicky, how was I going to explain all this? Could I? Why is it as soon as I seemed to get a date, 'cons show arrive and blow stuff up?

...

Rachael was crying, she didn't know when she had started, but she was in full flow now, sobbing silently in the small hours of the morning, she knew she'd have to get the kids up for school in a couple of hours, but right now she didn't care.

Vicky, that was her mother's name, could this be the same woman she had inherited her own blonde locks from? Her parents had always told her they had met in college, and at no point were explosions mentioned. As she wiped the tears from her face she leaned back in her chair, realising she had been in the same position for hours, she got up instantly felt the tightness and ache in her back, picking up the file she made her way to the couch. Taking up a more comfortable position she mused over the last few pages developments.

"This can't be how they met" She said to herself.

She had finally stopped crying, even if she didn't believe it, it was her mother in this story now, Vicky Darby had died a few years ago from a brain tumour, it was still a sore subject for Rachael to think about, and her father's condition only made it worse. She knew for a fact her mother had never known any alien robots, she used to watch the TV footage of them on the news in awe; she actually thought they were impressive, and would be reprimanded for her thoughts by her husband.

She knew now that she would not stop reading, she would get to the bottom of this; she had to prove it was all a lie, and so, once again, wiping the last few tears from her eyes, she continued the story of her father's youth...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Deceiving Memories

We pulled up outside the house me and mom had called home for the last four months, and somehow I knew this would be the last time we saw it, and whilst i was glad at the thought of going home, I was still sad to say goodbye, it was one hell of a place, far better than we had before. I got off my partner as I heard Bumblebees door slam shut, and was greeted with my mother running up to me and wrapping me up in her arms.

"Jack? Are you hurt?" She asked, leaning away to look me over for any injuries.

"I'm fine mom, she made the save as usual" I said, grinning and glancing over at my partner, still in her bike form as we were out in the street.`

"I should be grateful I supposed" she conceded, "But you should be wearing a helmet" she added, clipping me around the head.

"JACK" I heard the cries of the two friends I had not seen since before our seemingly short stint in witness protection had started. They both ran over and hugged me; I was a little put out by all this affection, but at the same time returned their grasps.

I looked around to see a large grey trailer being loaded by a team of delivery men, all of the things from our new home were being put in the back, we were definitely going home that was for sure.

With everything loaded, everyone seemed eager to get underway, and so our small fleet, both human and extra-terrestrial made our way to the open highway, and as soon as we knew we were alone a familiar green portal sprang to life ahead of us.

"So that's the end of that then" I said absentmindedly

"End of what?" came a reply from my motorcycle.

"Nothing really, I suppose I was looking forward to our grand escape" I was lying; I had lied so much lately it started to come naturally, and that was unnerving.

"Meh, don't worry about it, I get you back and I didn't have to kidnap you, it works for me" she said, obviously trying to hide her joy at being reunited early.

I just smiled as we left the emerald vortex and entered the familiar surroundings of the autobots base. As everyone got out, or in my case off, our alien chauffeurs, they all started talking and messing around like nothing had ever happened.

"So... uh... what exactly happened? Not that I'm not glad to be back" I asked

"We're bad for business" Miko proclaimed excitedly

I looked at her perplexed when my partner walked up beside me to hopefully explain what the crazy girl was talking about.

"For once Jack, Miko's right" my guardian said taking in my bemused look. Smiling she continued.

"It seems without you three to take up most of our time, we got the 'bridge fixed we had a lot more time to go after Megatron. We've been on his tail for three months now, and stopped almost all his energon mining before they even got started, somehow he found out that you weren't with us anymore and decided to make sure we had to look after you again. By going after you all he forced our hand into bring you all back in"

"Yeah, he sent those bozo's to the school to get me and Raf first, but of course the ever amazing Bulkhead totally whipped 'em" Miko added

"So you're telling me I have Megatron to thank for my homecoming?" I asked

"Yup, cool huh? I'll have to send him a card or something" said Miko handing me a sealed envelope "Speaking of which"

I looked at the pink paper in her hand and remembered what it was, when I left everyone was told I'd gone to a specialist for treatment after a gas explosion at our home, Sierra had given Miko a card for me and I was, at the time over the moon about it. Now I didn't really know what to think, I just kept flashing back to Vicky's tear soaked face. I put the card in my pocket and turned back to the others.

"So Jackie boy, who's the chick?" Miko asked me with a mischievous grin.

"Jacks got a baby chicken?" Bulkhead pondered innocently

"No Bulk, a girl, you know, the blonde Jack was making face time with when we had to pull his ass out of the fire" Miko explained.

"Girl? You sure move on quick" My partner commented looking none to happy.

Unsure of what to say I just shrugged. My mom came up and told me we'd be staying at the base that night while our stuff was moved into our old house. It seems it had been fixed up in our absence and was as good as new. I smiled at the thought of going home, but at the same time I just wanted to make sure Vicky was ok, I started to walk away taking out my cell to call her when, what Miko had dubbed the 'Fowler Signal' went off.

"DARBY" he shouted as he exited the lift, "Good to have you back son"

"Uh... Thanks agent Fowler" I replied, putting my cell away and giving the man my full attention.

"Right, on to the debrief, no point in wasting time. Your back to your old names and old lives, as far as the new lives you had are concerned, you're now in witness protection"

"Huh?" was all I could muster, looking at the dark skinned man blankly.

"So what your saying is, Jacks cover story for no longer being in witness protection, is that he's now in witness protection?" Miko asked, as confused as I was.

"Yes, well no. Colin Johnson is now in witness protection, as is his mother, Martha, therefore, they don't exist, and since they never did, it all works out ok". The agent explained.

Miko just shook her head and looked pained at the thought of trying to figure it out.

"The story here is the same as when you left, you got blown up, went away to get better, now your better, so your back" Fowler said quickly, as if this was the easiest thing in the world to keep track of.

"Only one thing" he added,

"What?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't like the answer.

"Same as before, no contact with previous lives" he answered.

"Works for me" said my mom

"What? Mom, what about Richard?" I asked, surprised she was so readily accepting this

"Well sweetheart, turns out he was married, I met his wife in the ER when she came in for a pregnancy check up" She said angrily.

"Men are such pigs" Miko chipped in

"I hear you sister" my mom replied, I just stared at the two of them, all this man bashing was getting a bit much, even if the guy was a jerk, not all men are bad I thought. Then it dawned on me, no contact, no Vicky, I at least owed her an explanation, and as if to pick up on my thoughts fowler held his hand out

"I need your cell phone Jack, any contact, with ANY one could put them at serious risk, and I know it won't be easy, but the last four months never happened, got it?"

"Fine" I sighed, handing him my phone. I didn't really know what to do with myself, but I did have one idea.

"Hey partner, fancy a drive" I asked

"Thought you'd never asked" she said transforming as she did so.

...

She was on the school run already, and she was really not in the mood. Rachael Darby had spent all of last night going through a makeshift journal of what she had been told were her father's exploits as a young man.

"Mommy, are we going to see Grandpa Jack today?" Little Susan Darby asked from the back of the car.

"Maybe sweetie, Mommy's got a few things to take care of first" Rachael replied pulling up outside the school, both kids hopped out and wandered off up to the entrance, once she was satisfied they were safely inside, she made her way back home.

She had one agenda for the next few hours; there was apparently a trunk, in the loft of her own home, which could contain answers to the questions she was now asking. Her father had stored them away, but God knows when, or why. But this information of a trunk of 'memories' came from her father's nurse and carer, one Tina Esquivel. According to this nurse, Rachael's father had been friends with her own, and he was even in the stories she had been reading.

Opening the hatch and pulling down the ladder leading to the dark and musty space above the ceiling she stopped. What if she found this trunk, what if there was at least some truth to all this, no matter how small. Deciding it was better to know and be able to banish these doubts permanently she flicked on the light and made her way up the steel steps.

It took almost an hour, clambering over decades old Christmas decorations, and old tat that some might call heirlooms, she found an old looking, leather bound box, about a metre long and half a metre wide.

With more than enough trepidation she unclasped the locks on the face of the trunk and slowly eased open the lid, afraid of what she might find inside. Then she started to shake upon seeing what was there, on top of a pile of papers, and old photographs was something that she could not explain, that she didn't want to explain. She reached in and pulled out the object in question, turning it over in her hands.

She started to cry, as she stared at a smooth, well worn, grey, motorcycle helmet.

...

**Hello there readers, fair play if you've made it this far, just thought I'd say a few words about this story. I'd like to start off by saying I only found this site a few months ago, but have really enjoyed reading peoples takes on things, I also plan on leaving reviews for the stories I've read, but I only signed up this week and haven't gotten round to it.**

**As for this story, I already had 5 chapters written when I signed up, the rest are just coming along when I have time, if you've enjoyed it then tidy, but I guess it's a slow burner if I'm honest. I just wanted to see a story where Jack and Arcee fall out, and it isn't because of torture or being made into a transformer or ninja death monkeys, etc. Don't get me wrong I love those stories, but I thought a nice story about how relationships turn to shit in a more normal way might be interesting. Also all characters that will be added have been, I think we have enough now.**

**And thanks to those who have left reviews and apologies on my writing, I general don't write much past signing my name and have never written a story before if you don't count in school. Which I don't. Due to life, chapters will probably be added in batches since internet access can be sometimes limited, so if they're done, I'll just bung em on. Anyway thanks for reading my little explanation bit.**

**Oh and I don't own transformers, if I did I'd own a lot more stuff, I do apparently own the characters that have come from my head, which is nice an' all, but does not enable me to own more stuff.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Broken Memories

Rachael Darby was sitting at her kitchen table sobbing. In front of her was a grey motorcycle helmet she had found in a trunk in her loft. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew it was her fathers. It had taken a lot of grunting, back strain and cursing, but she had been able to get the trunk down.

While going through the box of papers and photographs, she had almost broken down completely. There were pictures of her father in his late teens, in some he was with two other children, in others they were all was next to several vehicles, but there was one picture that truly stunned her.

Her father was standing next to a robot that towered over him. Clearly designed with a feminine figure in mind, the blue and grey giant was looking down at her father with a grin of affection. He was looking up at it smiling.

"Why is he smiling? Why?" She cried, it was all beginning to get too much. Just yesterday, these fantastical stories were just something her ailing father had kept her own children quiet with. But now it was becoming more likely that there was truth behind them. None of this made sense to her.

She knew that her father's dementia had made his mind a jumble; she couldn't understand how he knew these robotic villains when he had never shown anything but disdain for them. Then there was what she had most recently read about her mother. How could they have met before college, had they lied to her about that? She took a piece of paper and a pen in order to take notes. She had pictures now, and it was time to put names to faces.

Without the same feeling of dread she had when she began this journey into her father's past, she opened the file, determined to get to the bottom of all this.

...

"Get off"

"What?"

We had only got half way down the corridor to the exit when my partner had told me to remove myself from her chassis.

"Wait here" she said speeding off back towards the main control area, leaving me standing in an oversized concrete tunnel wondering what the hell was going on.

Just as I was thinking that I should follow I heard her running back towards me. Stopping a few meters away from me she reached down and opened her hand.

"Here, don't want your mom to get mad at us so soon after having you back" She grinned.

I couldn't believe it; in her hand was my helmet. Though I never really talked about it, it was one of my most prized possessions. Whenever it was with me, it meant I was with my partner and best friend, just looking at it sometimes made me smile.

"Whoa, I thought this would have been destroyed with the rest of the garage" I said, taking the helmet from her hand and slipping in on.

"So did I, but I went back after you had gone and found it, I knew you'd probably need it when I came to get you" She explained as she transformed, letting me settle back into the seat.

"Thanks partner" I said, giving the handle bar a squeeze in order to show my appreciation.

"Well, if we're all set..." she trailed off as she lifted her front wheel in the air, letting the back one spin on the ground for a second before speeding off through the exit onto the open road.

It felt so good to be riding again, I didn't realise how much I had missed it until now. Without a care in the world, and with total trust in my guardian I closed my eyes and let the wind blow around my body.

"You awake up there?" She asked.

"Yeah, just enjoying the moment" I replied.

"Good, me too... I... I've... really missed you Jack" she admitted.

"I've missed you too partner" I told her, pressuring her sides with my thighs in order to show the affection in my statement.

We continued in silence for a few miles before pulling up at a cliff edge. Taking in view in front of us we both seemed to be struggling with what to say, something that had never really happened before. I had thought that after four months away, we'd both have loads of news to catch up on.

"So you guys have been getting up Megatron's nose a lot lately huh?" I tried to start a conversation.

"Nose?" She asked, clearly confused by my statement.

"Yeah, you know, getting in his way, spoiling his plans, generally pissing him off?" I explained.

"Oh... yeah I suppose we have, we've managed to store up a lot of energon too..." she let the last sentence hang, as if no more really needed to be said.

"So how was your time away? Listening to Miko, you seemed to enjoy yourself" she questioned me with an almost unhappy tone.

"It was fine, nothing really happened, I was stuck in the house for two months, and then just school. But yes, Miko's right... I did meet someone, and yes we got close... But it doesn't matter now does it" I said angrily.

I could see the screen in front of me light up, as if she was about to say something, but it just dulled again, her thoughts never being voiced. Finally, as she had drummed up enough courage she spoke.

"I'm sorry Jack, but to be honest I'm just glad your home, and with me again"

"I know, I'm happy to be back too, it's just... it was nice to be normal for a change, even if it wasn't real" I tried to explain my feelings, but I don't think it worked.

"So are you saying you'd rather still be there? You were living a lie Jack. If you actually kept to your cover story then that... that ...girl knew nothing about you, not the real you". She was starting to get agitated.

It had been a thought that had plagued my own mind, I didn't even know if Vicky would like the real me, even though I was the same person as my witness protection counterpart, minus an intergalactic war of course.

"You should let it go Jack, your home now, back where you belong. I didn't like having you taken away from me, and honestly, knowing that you wanted me to bring you back was really what kept me going" She said, and I could tell she was being very open with her feelings. It was not something she let just anyone see, and while I felt quite privileged at the trust she placed in me, something about the way she was speaking un nerved me.

"Heh... I didn't realise you wanted me back that much" I answered back, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course I did, this war has taken so much from me Jack. So many friends lost, not to mention Tailgate and Cliff. This war, or anything else for that matter, will NOT take you away from me" She spoke with passion, but it was tinged with desperation.

"Look partner, I'm not going anywhere, I mean sure, one day I'll hopefully go to college or something, but it'll only be a simple 'bridge back" I tried to reassure her.

"COLLEGE?" she cried out.

"Yeah, I know after the last few months I'll probably have to repeat a year, but I still think I should go. Don't be so worried, it's only for a few years and like I said, I'll be back as often as I can" I explained.

She stayed silent, it was the same as that night when the 'cons attacked out home and I was not going to let something stupid get between us again.

"C'mon, don't give the silent treatment again, you know how that ended last time" I told her.

Wrong thing to say.

Her engine revved. We shot off the cliff. I was falling and the ground was coming up quickly, I closed my eyes waiting for the inevitable impact when I heard the sound of a transformation beside me.

In mid flight she spun around caught me in her hand and we landed hard, the force being taken mainly by her legs, she planted me on the ground on my back with her hand covering most of my body.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" I screamed at her,

Looking in her optics I could see nothing but rage for a brief moment, before they refocused on me, and seemed to calm.

"Sorry Jack, I... thought I detected a 'con signal" she tried to explain but I knew she was lying.

"BULLSHIT, did you just try and kill us or something... and let me GO" I shouted.

She removed her hand that pinned me to the floor, then just looked away and slumped to her knees. I wasn't sure what to do, I was livid and shaking so hard I thought I might pull a muscle, but I could see that this abnormal behaviour from my partner was not to be taken lightly.

I stood up and made my way over to her, I place my hand on her cool metallic arm. She flinched at first but made no verbal protest.

"Seriously partner, what was that? I know it wasn't 'cons" I said as soothingly as I could.

"I... I know it's my fault Jack, but you don't have to rub it in my face. If I hadn't been upset that night then you wouldn't have had to go and things would still be the same" She said with sadness in her voice.

"You wouldn't have gone; you wouldn't have been taken away from me. I don't want you to leave me, not like everyone else does Jack. I know you're getting older, and I know you have to college... but I don't want you to just leave and forget about me". She continued.

I did not like what I was hearing; this was not the partner I had before my exile. She was strong, confident and sure about everything she did. But now she just seemed desperate and almost broken.

She had been through a lot, I knew that. Her first partner was killed by that psycho Airachnid centuries ago back on their home planet. I don't think she ever really got over that, it did more than mentally scar her; it left a psychological wound that would never heal. Instead it had festered until a small part of her psyche had been consumed with nothing more than the need for revenge. Then there was Cliffjumper. He was killed just before we had met; I think she was close to slipping over the edge then.

But she got better, and I liked to think I had something to do with that. Once our awkward first few weeks had passed, we got closer. This latest change was something completely new, and actually quite frightening.

"It's okay to be a little scared you know, especially about the future, I know I am. But we can't let that fear control us okay?" I was still trying to bring her back from the edge of whatever madness seemed to be descending. I went to stand in front of her, her head now level with mine, but she still wouldn't look up.

I tried something I had never done before and put my hands on her cheek plates and tried to lift her face up towards mine, she complied and we both stared at each other in silence before she finally let a small smile approach her lips.

"I'm sorry Jack... that was unforgivable" she tried to sound calm.

"Forget about it, just... don't do anything like that again okay? I don't think I like riding off cliffs" I placed my forehead against hers and sighed. I had always wanted to be closer to her, for her to let me in fully, but this new fragile side of her was not what I was expecting, nor was the anger that had surfaced.

"Let's head back, I think that's just about enough excitement for one day" she said, sounding more like her normal self.

"Sure, I should be finding somewhere to set up a bed anyway, will be interesting spending a night at the base" I admitted

"You can... stay in my... quarters if you'd like? Maybe we can talk some more about what's happened while you were away?" she asked.

"I've got a great story about Bulk sinking to the bottom of Lake Michigan and taking over a day to walk along the bottom to get out"

"Seriously?" I laughed out loud, "Okay partner, sounds like a plan, I don't know if mom will like it, but hell, we just won't tell her"

"Deal" she said as she transformed back into the blue motorcycle that had been the first thing about her that had taken my breath away all that time ago. I hopped on and got comfortable before we shot off back to base.

On the ride back I remember thinking that things might have changed back home, but now I realised that maybe they had changed too much, and not for the better. Once more I thought about how I would have to keep an eye on my partner and guardian, little did I know that soon another change would be coming. And this time, nothing could ever go back to the way it was before.

...

Rachael looked at the notes she had been scribbling while reading the latest section of the file, something was definitely amiss, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The last few paragraphs had been extremely disturbing to her; it seemed to her that her father and this motorcycle had a very close relationship, but that it was now starting to border on obsession for one of the parties involved.

Had she really driven them off a cliff? What was she thinking? But yet, Rachael had empathised with the character that had seemed so eager to protect her father. Knowing all about grief and the loss of a loved one herself to this pointless war that nothing to do with her planet. She couldn't help but feel sorry for this 'guardian'.

Once more she scanned her notes; so far she had tried to put together a rough time line of events, and also had listed the machines mentioned so far. She had them all set out with their vehicle mode, colour, job or charge and finally name. She was writing down the final two that she had found in the file so far.

Car ... Yellow ... Scout ... Raphael ... Bumblebee.

She couldn't quite grasp that name, it was such an odd designation but then, these were aliens after all. Now getting the final one she continued writing.

Motorcycle... Blue... Second in command... Dad... Partner.

No, something was definitely wrong here, Bumblebee was an odd enough name, but Partner? That could not be what she was called, she was referred to AS his partner. Then it finally hit her, the one thing that had seemed so confusing about this relationship from the very start.

Her father had described her in such an affectionate way, even lovingly at times, but there was one thing he had never mentioned, one massive detail he seemed to have left out.

He had never said her name.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Frightful Memories

Nearly a month had passed since mom and I had come back to Jasper from our witness protection induced excursion. Things at base had been strained to say the least. While I was away, Miko and Raf were also forced to stay away from their own 'bots, and during that time, team Prime had gone after Megatron and his followers with a vengeance. So much so, that the evil Decepticon warlord had hatched a scheme to get us all back in the custody of our cybertronian friends.

While everyone was relieved and happy to be back, Optimus hadn't wanted to waste the advantage that had been awarded them by our absence. That meant every Autobot was pulling double duty. When they weren't picking us up from school, they were on patrol or going after an energon signal. This had left little time for the one on one sessions we had all gotten used to. Miko was her usual self, trying to follow Bulkhead on his missions, but due to Ratchets more vigilant watch of the ground bridge, she hadn't got through once. Leaving her even more troublesome at base, causing enough trouble for the Autobot medic that I think he often considered just letting follow her massive bottle green guardian.

The biggest casualty of this more industrious action was Raf. My young friend was becoming increasingly withdrawn and moody. While he was getting to an awkward age, I could see it was also the absence of his best friend that was taking its toll. Bumblebee had become exactly what the young boy had always needed, a friend who listened, spent time with him doing the things Raf enjoyed to do, but more than anything else, he paid attention. Raf was from a big family, and had mentioned more than once that nobody at home would notice if he wasn't there.

The 'bots were suffering as well. While Bumblebee had given Raf confidence, Raphael had also become his voice. Being the only known human to be able to understand him, the two had forged a bond based on communication. With those conversations now being limited to the drive to and from base, Bumblebee had basically given up talking unless he was around Raf.

While Bulkhead had always put the Autobot cause first, he had always made time for Miko. Whenever they could, they would be out generally causing havoc where ever they could, and without the companionship of his honorary wrecker he was becoming increasingly distant. Only seeming to want to fight his way through missions, instead of looking for a more productive way to achieve their goals.

Other than my own observations, I was being relayed this information by my own guardian. Since the first night back after our time apart, we had taken to staying up later than we should and talking. She was more worried about moral than I had ever seen her, but she also knew the need to keep up the offensive.

"Optimus is afraid" She told me on one of our late night chats.

"Afraid? I didn't think he scared that easily"

"Its Megatron, we should all be afraid" she explained.

"Okay, point taken, but it's been quiet for a while hasn't it? I thought you said the last few missions had been done with minimal resistance?" I asked confused.

"That's the point Jack. It's as if he's not even trying to stop us. If he's too preoccupied to worry about us then that can only mean one thing" she looked at the floor, clearly a little shaken at the thought.

"Then he's planning something big?" I concluded.

"Very big if Optimus is right, usually he'd be finding things to keep us occupied, or steal some earth tech to further his sick projects. The only thing we could find stolen lately under strange circumstances was some old military drones and some ground working machines. And I hardly doubt the decepticons are going into landscaping" She smiled as she finished.

"I highly doubt that either" I chuckled.

"Anyway, it's time for you to get to bed Jack, first day back at school for you tomorrow" she said pointing her thumb at the door.

"I guess you're right, though I don't really see the point" I sighed.

"I thought you wanted to get your grades up, go to college?" she asked, raising a brow.

The last time college was mentioned hadn't ended well, while I was hopeful she had gotten over the fear that had seemed to consume her over me leaving again, we hadn't talked about it since. I was surprised she was even willing to bring it up.

"Yeah I do, but to do that I'm going to have to repeat a year. Kind of making the rest of this year pointless" I said with a tinge of frustration in my voice.

"I'm sorry this year has gone the way it has Jack" she told me as she put her arm out and wrapped it around me. Once I would have been taken aback by such a show of affection, but it was becoming more frequent. Not that I minded though, the feel of her touch had always made me tingle a little.

"I've told you before, stop trying to blame yourself"

"I don't know if I ever can Jack, but I..." she stopped mid sentence.

"You what?" I tried to coax her unspoken words out of her.

"I guess... I'm kind of glad in a way, that I get another year with you" she spoke timidly, but with her usual confidence. I simply smiled and put my hand on her arm that circulated me. We looked at each other for a few moments before she spoke again.

"And on that note, get to bed. If you dropped out then I wouldn't have to take you to and from school. That would mean even more patrolling, and I just don't think I'm cut out for that" she said smiling.

"Ah, now we get to the bottom of it don't we, you're not looking out for my education at all, just using me as an excuse to skip work" I laughed.

"Yup, you caught me out, now off you go" she told me, turning me towards the door and gently pushing me in its direction.

"Fine, fine. I'll take one for the team" I said, winking as I turned to look at her, before I headed for the door.

"Night Jack"

"Night partner"

As I got to my room I saw a bright pink envelope waiting for me on my desk. It had been given to Miko for me by Sierra before I left. I really didn't know what to think, I had been home for nearly a month already, and it still sat in the same place I put it on our first night back in the house.

Before I had gone, my crush on Sierra was bordering on fanatic. Every time I saw her my mouth dried out, my head spun in a way that defied physics and my pulse raced faster than the beating of a Hummingbirds wings.

But that was before I left. Before I had met Vicky. Still, it wouldn't be very nice if I just never opened it, I was still going to have to see Sierra. So I resigned myself to opening the card.

'_Dear Jack, _

_I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. If I had stayed any longer it could have been me in there too. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm sorry we never got to do the homework together. Maybe when you get back we could find something else to do. Together. Get well soon._

_Sierra xxx_

I let out a short laugh, glad to see her self-preservation instincts were still working fine. I knew she could be quite shallow, but there it was in writing. However the offer to do something together made me smile a little.

All this time I had spent just getting that girl to notice me. All it took was one life threatening explosion and now she wants to hang out. I thought I'd just have to play it by ear, see where it goes in the morning. Though I knew I didn't want it to go as far as I once did.

Going back to school just felt like I was going through the motions, though it was surprisingly uneventful. Even Vince left me alone. The biggest change was Sierra's attitude towards me. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to spend time with me, and we often talked at lunch. Much to my partners chagrin. I knew she didn't like the girl, but the new possessive side of her seemed to be creeping out more and more.

It worried me a little, but I was confident she wouldn't do anything stupid. Well, up until the point she did anyway. It was my third day back and that afternoon my guardian was on patrol duty when the bell had rung to signify the end of other day of forced learning. Instead of catching a ride with Miko and Bulkhead, I decided to walk home, I hadn't got far before I was joined by Sierra.

While I wasn't put off by the girls company, somehow I could tell she wanted something other than friendship from me. While at one time that would have me doing cartwheels down streets, I didn't feel the same as I did then. Thinking this might be an opportunity to set the record straight in private, we began walking into town.

After about twenty minutes of walking in an awkward silence that was only broken by occasional small talk, we were nearing her home.

"So Jack, you fancy catching a movie on Saturday?" she stopped walking and turned to me for an answer.

"Uhh... I don't know Sierra; it's not that I don't..." I was cut off by the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine. By now I could tell my azure guardians mood just by hearing the hum her engine would make, and this noise was not a good sign.

She sped towards us and skidded to a stop inches away from Sierra's feet. Her Holo-rider turned first to me then to Sierra. Without taking her gaze away from the red head she simply said

"Get on"

"Whoa, uh... Hi Sadie... I thought you were working" I lied lamely

"Finished early" She replied without taking the visor covered eyes off the girl I had been walking home.

"Hi, Sadie is it? I'm Sierra, nice to meet you, how do you know Jack?" she enquired, matching my partners glare, clearly battling for dominance in what was becoming a tense situation.

"We work together" another short answer from my partner.

"Funny, he's never mentioned you before" Sierra smirked as she said this, putting her arm through mine.

My motorcycle revved its engine and edged forward towards us both, millimetres separating the three of us. I decided it was best to limit physical contact so slowly shrugged off Sierra's grasp. The girl was clearly getting agitated now, and probably a little scared, I know I was.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going, see you on Saturday Jack?" Sierra asked, motioning towards her house.

Unsure of what to say in this situation anymore I simply gave in so I could get my partner away from this girl before she did any damage.

"Sure Sierra, sounds good" I replied, settling onto my motorcycle, behind its holographic rider, making sure not to put my leg through the projection and arouse any suspicion.

"Okay, see ya Jack, oh and Sadie? Look after _my_ Jack wont you" Sierra said with an almost evil look, knowing that it was going to rile my partner up, and it certainly did the job.

Revving her engine the loudest id ever heard it, she spun the back wheel around and covered the auburn haired girl in a cloud of smoke. Leaving her spluttering she let loose with the accelerator again, this time I swear the sound actually growled 'MINE' as we shot off down the thankfully empty street.

We didn't speak, in fact I don't think either of us even knew where we were headed, and we just rode out of town. I couldn't think of anything I even wanted to say to her, I knew for a while that she was become overly protective when it came to me, even possessive. I couldn't help but wonder if this was going to be a bigger issue than I originally thought, I should have been talking to her about it, but It had seemed that I'd had this conversation one too many times lately.

"So..." was all I could muster.

"So what?" she replied sharply

"Oh I dunno, how about we start with what you were doing back there shall we? You know, when that whole bitch fight thing was happening" I said, annoyance dripping off every word.

"That wasn't a fight Jack; she wouldn't have been so cocky if it was"

"Will you listen to yourself? You're talking about going toe to toe with a teenager" I tried to make her see sense.

"She doesn't matter, I finished my patrol early, got back and was told you'd not come back to base with Bulkhead, what was I supposed to think? If you want to talk about being stupid Jack, than I think that qualifies"

"Whoa, don't try and turn this around on me, maybe I should have come back, but I was only walking home" I replied angrily

"With her" she growled

"Yes, with Sierra, so what? I know you don't like her but..." I chastised her

"Don't like her?" she interrupted

"I don't give a damn about her, but she's no good for you Jack, I don't want to see you get hurt"

"Do you think I don't know that? I was trying to let her know that I wasn't interested before you came along and blew up in front of us, I mean, come on partner, you can't just go around flying off the handle at every part of my life you don't like" I said, trying to stay calm.

We were not far from the base now, I thought she might just be trying to get there quickly so this conversation could end, but to my surprise she headed off in a different direction.

"We need to talk, face to face" she said quietly before scanning for a secluded spot. Finding a cave entrance that would be suitable I got off to let her transform. The sun was beginning to set, and as she stood up her armour seemed to glitter in the final rays of twilight. She was beautiful at times, and not for the first time I found myself staring at her true form.

"I'm not saying I'm sorry this time Jack, because, if I'm honest, I'm not sorry" she said, with her usual bravado.

"Okay..."

"When Bulk told me you had walked home, I got scared, I was coming to find you regardless, but then Miko told me you'd walked home with... her... and I'll admit, I snapped a little" she continued.

"So... are you saying your jealous or something? I asked, raising an eyebrow

"Just let me finish. You're right, I don't like her, but its more than that, I care about your wellbeing more than you might think Jack, I don't want to see you hurt by 'cons, or teenage girls"

She moved down to me now, to be at my eye level. I could see in her face that she was being genuine with every word, and I must admit, I was touched at the sentiment.

"I know I should be able to let you out of my sight, and let you get on with being a teenager, but it's hard for me because you're human" she admitted

"Uh... you do know I've always been human right?" I said teasing her with a smile.

"Of course" she retorted, pushing me gently with her fist

"But you're also so... fragile, and as Ratchet once put it, squishy. You get damaged so easily" she continued, waving her hand towards my leg

"Then there's the research I did into human relationships, and from what I can gather, you and Sierra can only end in what you humans call 'heartbreak' and I'm pretty sure you won't be the one doing the breaking"

"Like I said, I had that figured out for myself" I added

"I know, but still, I just want to keep you safe, if I were to lose you then..." she stopped and shook her head.

"I've told you before partner, I'm not going anywhere" I told her as I reached out to stroke her cheek plate. She smiled at the touch before standing back up.

"There is another reason I was rushing to find you. It's your birthday tomorrow right?" she said

"Yeah, not that it'll be much fun spending it in school" I moaned

"Well then, how about you don't go? Optimus has given me the day off, and I was thinking maybe I could phone the school pretending to be your mom, and we could do something together" she added the last word shyly.

I grinned. If I didn't know any better I'd say that she was asking me out, this was all getting a bit weird, but you only live once right?

"Sure, sounds good. But if mom finds out it was your fault okay?" I laughed

"Wimp" she said with a smirk, and then looked at the floor before asking "So are we okay?"

"Of course we are, just..."

"Don't do it again, I know, I know" she finished for me.

Both laughing she transformed and just as I swung my leg over my cell went off.

"Hey Miko" I answered

"Jack... Jack! Oh god, thank god you're not dead" she sounded petrified

"Whoa, slow down Miko"

"Jack, you two need to get to base right now, its Megatron" she was speaking so fast I could barely keep up

"Miko please, what's going on?" I asked, trying to calm the shaking voice on the other end.

"It's Megatron... Jack... He's gone PUBLIC"

"Jack, I think you should see this" my partner's voice interrupted my thoughts as I looked up to see the lights coming from our neighbouring town. The usual orange glow of street lights seemed to flicker, before I finally realised it was not street lights that illuminated the sky.

The whole town was burning.

"Miko, we're on our way"

...

"Still no name" Rachael said to herself. She was beginning to worry over this relationship between her father and his motorcycle, they seemed almost too close. Yet, never once had he referred to her by name.

She had remembered hearing about the fire in Sandfields, the neighbouring town to Jasper. Although it was well before her time, she had heard the stories. It was then that these vile creatures became public knowledge across the globe.

But she couldn't believe her father was there that day, there were so many casualties, homes destroyed, lives lost, and families torn apart. The town was never rebuilt and to this day, just stands there as a burnt out husk. A memorial to those who lost their lives thanks to a war that didn't belong on their planet.

It was time for some answers; she knew she should finish the file first, there were only a few pages remaining. As soon as she had though, she knew what she had to do. She had to confront her father. She had to hear this 'confession' from the mouth of Jack Darby.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Destructive Memories

As we raced into the main command centre, I hopped off my partner without her fully stopping. I landed without breaking my stride as she transformed next to me as we both walked up to Optimus. If the situation hadn't been so dire then we would have been smiling at each other, having practiced that move more than once when it had ended in embarrassment.

"Optimus, what's the latest?" my partner asked

"Some of agent Fowlers men are scouting ahead, so far thier reports indicate... massive amounts of destruction" the red and blue giant sounded older.

"Well let's get going" I chipped in.

All eyes and optics turned to me, then I noticed my mom spring up as if from nowhere.

"Jackson Darby, you are NOT following them, you are not eighteen until tomorrow young man, so you don't get to make decisions like that".

"Mom, listen, I..." I tried to get my point across before I was interrupted by a loudly comforting voice.

"Jackson, might I speak to you for a moment"

"Sure thing Optimus" I answered as I followed him a little ways down a corridor.

"Jack, I entrusted something very valuable to you before, even though that trust eventually put you in danger, I fear I must ask such a task of you once more" the prime said, eager worry evident in his voice.

"You want me to take the key again? You plan on not coming back again?" I asked, fearful of his response. Last time he did something like this he lost his memories of being a Prime and joined the decepticons. That time away almost tore this team apart, and I didn't fancy our chances of getting through it again.

"Do not fear. I fully intend on stopping Megatron, no matter the cost. That being said I also plan on coming back functioning. The reason I need you to bear the burden of the key once again is in the hope that we can unite out two species". The giant explained

"We will no longer be able to hide our existence from your world, and while Agent Fowler has been a competent liaison and stalwart ally, we need someone who has not been forced to interact with us to show the rest of humanity that we are not as inherently evil as Megatron would lead them to believe"

"Okay, so you want me to be the 'bot cheerleader or something?" I asked with a slight grin, trying to lighten the mood, it went un-noticed.

"The key is also a symbol of leadership Jack, it can only be used by a Prime, or one appointed by a Prime. Do not take this burden lightly, this key will show that you are our chosen representative to the human race".

A solemn moment passed between us, both knowing what was being asked. If I had any dreams of going to college and having a normal life, then taking this key would more than likely put an end to them.

Feeling that the situation needed a more formal gesture I spoke up.

"I humbly accept the reasonability you are giving me Optimus Prime, and hope that I can show that I am worthy of the trust you are placing in me"

A small smile graced his face plates as he reached down to hand me the key to Vector Sigma, it quickly transforming into its smaller form.

"Your worthiness has never been in doubt Jackson Darby" He spoke with an edge of pride in his voice.

"Though this time I believe our allies, human and Autobot know of our intentions from the start. Wear the key with pride" and with those words the small, flat object sprouted two long strings from its top that joined to form a chain. I place the key around my neck and it started to glow.

"The key has accepted you as its new host. Now let's get back to the others" he said motioning back to the control hub.

As we walked back in I noticed agent Fowler had arrived, his face looked gaunt and devoid of emotion until he saw Optimus. With his usual call of "PRIME" the two began talking what I assumed would be strategies for defeating Megatron.

"What did the big guy want?" my partner asked, awakening me from my thoughts.

I simply waved my hand over my chest where the key had now made its home. I saw the multitude of emotions fluctuate through my guardian's optics. First pride, then fear and finally anger. I could also see my mother gawking at the object around my neck. Soon everyone was just staring at me in silence before my mom and partner both screaming in unison.

"Optimus, YOU CANT BE SERIOUS?"

They both looked at each other, shocked that the outburst had been so in sync. They gave each other a small nod, as if admitting finally that they had always really been on the same side. Optimus turned to mom and gave her a grave look.

"June, I understand your trepidation, but..." he started

"You understand nothing! Last time my son had that freaky looking piece of scrap metal, he had to go halfway across the galaxy to save YOU. Which in turn led to OUR house being attacked by YOUR enemies. Now you want him to do the same thing AGAIN?" My mom was seething with anger, she looked over at me, then up at my partner for her opinion.

"June is right Optimus, Jack cannot go through that again, and to be honest, neither can the rest of us, if you're planning the same stunt as before, and this is just a way for us to get you back at the expense of Jacks safety, then I suggest you find another way" my partner added to my mom's argument.

For his part Optimus just looked at the two women in front of him, both overwhelmed with emotions over my protection.

"Uh... Hi, can I say something here?" I asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

All eyes and optics in the room turned to focus on me, I gulped down hard as I tried to formulate the best response I could think of in order to dissolve the tension.

"Optimus didn't give me this so I could help him, it's so I can help everyone. Megatron has basically declared war on our planet; we need to stand together if we're going to stop him. That's what this represents. Autobot and human working together for the greater good. I'm honoured that Optimus thinks I can help bridge the gap between our two species, and if I said I didn't have doubts, I'd be lying. But if we stand together, and work together, and the rest of the world sees it, then maybe one day we can have peace."

I spoke as confidently as I could, as I looked around the silo I could see the faces of everyone, 'bot and human, looking straight at me.

Bulkhead spoke first.

"Works for me, good to have you on the team Fleshy"

'Bee let out a long string of beeps that Raf translated as

"'Bee says you'll do a great job Jack, I think so too" he added with a smile.

"Okay, fine, but anymore off earth adventures and I'm coming too" Miko chipped in, with her usual over animated gestures.

"I can... think of no better choice" Ratchet shocked everyone with his statement, as he turned back around to his screen, eager to escape any unwanted attention.

"You sure about this Jack?" my partner asked with concern.

"Yeah, I told you once, me and you vs. the world, well now it's true" I told her softly.

"Okay, but you're not going into the field" she added quickly, I just smiled at her. I think she knew then that there would be no stopping me, but she kept quiet. Everyone seemed to grasp what was going on except mom and agent Fowler.

"So what's happening? Is Jack an Autobot now or something?" Fowler queried in confusion, while my mom just looked at us all with an open mouth.

"Not quite agent Fowler" Ratchet spoke up

"Optimus has chosen Jack to be our representative to your race, while you will still have your leaders and politicians, Jack will be recognised by all cybertronians as Earths most trusted ally, and the blueprint of everything good about humanity and what they could accomplish, much like Optimus is seen to us as the best any of us could ever be". The medic finished.

"So, I know I asked this last time, but does that mean Jack is like a Prime now? But for humans?" the young Japanese girl asked scratching her head.

"For all intents and purposes Miko, yes. Although I think a better title would be in order" Ratchet admitted.

Everyone looked at each other, clearly unsure of what was coming next. I looked up at the autobots leader to see him beaming with a smile while focusing on me, pride evident in his optics. I saw the same look on my partner when I turned to face her, but there was something else there. Not the fear and anxiety I had seem so much of lately, but something else. Something powerful but what the emotion was eluded me.

"Well, I hate to break up this Hallmark moment, but there's a town being burnt to the GROUND" Fowler spoke with urgency, and all at once everyone walked off, each knowing their part to play. The 'bots began discussing battle plans while I made my way to the human area, to make plans of my own. Once I reached the top of the stairs I saw mom standing in front of me with tears in her eyes.

"It's gonna be ok mom, trust me" I spoke soothingly as I put my arms around her, pulling her into my embrace.

"I... I know Jack, I knew you'd be doing some growing up soon, when you turned eighteen, I just didn't think it would be so quickly" she said, I was glad to see her accepting my role, but I could see the fear in her eyes as well.

I released mom from my hug and made my way over to Raf leaving Miko to her eager bouncing, I had plans to make myself and so we stood out of earshot concocting our own strategy when we heard the 'bots moving near to us.

"Autobots, this is likely going to be one of the most dangerous situations Megatron has pitted us against on this planet. While he needs to stopped, we must attempt to keep human casualties to an absolute minimum" the confident leader said.

"Leave that to us Optimus" I spoke up.

"Jack, you are not coming, I'd expect this from Miko, but seriously?" my azure guardian told me forcefully.

"She is right Jack, your place is here" the Prime agreed

"With all due respect Optimus, you've said it yourself. This isn't you against them anymore; it's about all of us now. Every human on this planet has a right to defend it if the so wish" I talked with confidence and I could see by the stares I was garnering that the room was taken aback at how I spoke to him as equal.

"Be that as it may Jackson, your time will come, for now it would be in humanities best interests if you stay here to man the ground bridge. I fear Ratchets services will be need in the field on this day." The red and blue titan replied.

If such a thing could happen it seemed as if the silence grew louder as everyone took in our exchange, with a look into each other's eyes, as if to convey words left unsaid the giant mech turned and bellowed.

"Autobots, ROLL OUT"

The ground bridge fired up and he was the first through, with a last glance at our friends and guardians before they left, we all spoke what needed to be said with gestures and looks. Facial movements telling each other what could not be told aloud.

As soon as they were all through I saw Miko make a break for the portal before it closed, knowing what I had to do, I chased after her and grabbed her arm.

"Let go Jack, you can't stop me going" she said with annoyance in her voice.

"I'm not stopping you Miko. I'm coming with you" I answered her flatly.

With a last look back I nodded at Raf who replied with a small smile. Miko and I then ran through the green vortex before it closed behind us.

What I saw that day will forever be burned into my memories, as will the aftermath.

...

Rachael Darby stared at the page in front of her in shock. She couldn't remember her father ever being some kind of alien ambassador. Somebody would have mentioned it. Stranger still was the faith these despicable robots had put in him.

Despicable didn't seem right anymore however. She could feel her opinions on the matter changing. When she had first began reading these stories she hated the aliens with every fibre of her being, but now, after seeing how they had interacted with each other, and their human friends, she couldn't see how they could have caused such malevolent destruction.

As she glanced over the few remaining pages, she could see small water stains speckling the paper, making the ink run in small rivers down the pages. She knew instantly what had caused it. Tears. She imagined in her mind's eye Tina Esquivel, her father's nurse, crying as she wrote these final few memories. Whatever was coming, whatever she read next, she knew in her soul that it would be heart wrenching, and would change her father, Jackson Darby, forever.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Constructing Memories

Such destruction. Everywhere I looked I couldn't escape the destruction. Buildings were left in piles of burning rubble. Smoke choked the light from the remaining streetlamps. Yet, it was eerily silent; the only sound the relentless crackle of the flames that had torn apart this once peaceful town.

We spotted a couple of Vehicons up ahead and took cover behind the nearest pile of charred and broken brick and stone. Miko knelt down and took out a small pot of makeup and what looked like a small stencil.

"Uh Miko, what are you doing?"

She turned back around to me, and I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Emblazoned on her cheeks in black were two Autobot symbols.

"War Paint, Want some?" she asked

"Uh, no thanks" I answered shaking my head

Looking back over the top of our cover we spotted the 'bots moving deeper into the town, taking out the Vehicons we had seen earlier. We started to follow, keeping as low and concealed as we could. The Autobots were moving cautiously, and before long we were moving parallel beside them. We were close enough to hear their worried voices.

"I don't like this Optimus, it's as if their just letting us through" my partner said

"Agreed" the Prime answered simply

"Typical Megatron, he'll want us to see the destruction he's caused before engaging" Ratchet added.

Moving forward we soon found a massive mound of rubble; it must have been three times the height of Optimus. Cut into one side were what looked like steps and the base was alight with a glowing ring of fire. Atop the mountain of broken buildings sat Megatron on a makeshift throne.

"OPTIMUS" the grey titan bellowed

"I'm so glad you could join us. Do you like what I've done with the place?"

"Megatron, you must cease this action immediately "Optimus replied

"Come now old friend, we are about usher in a new age. These humans do not deserve this planet, they destroy everything they touch. It is only fitting that a superior race inherits it" Megatron explained manically.

"That is not a decision you can make Megatron, it is not your right to take this planet from its inhabitants" Optimus answered back

"I will offer this only once Prime, join me. Once the humans are exterminated, we can rebuild Cybertron on this pitiful world" Megatron spoke with a sick pride, totally convinced in his cause.

"I am afraid I must decline, we have sworn to protect this planet, and that is exactly what we intend to do" as Optimus spoke, his battle mask slid into place and he ejected his blade from his right arm. Taking a battle stance as the rest of the 'bots followed his lead in deploying their weapons, Megatron raised his arm as if the stay their advance.

"So be it, then this is where the line of the Primes shall end. But before I extinguish your spark personally I would like you to meet my new creations"

"CONSTRUCTICONS SHOW YOURSELVES"

With that last shout the ground began to tremble as six differing construction vehicles mad their way around the mound, three from each side sped forward before stopping in a line infront of the shocked Autobots.

"Constructicons, transform"

As Megatron gave the command, the vehicles began shifting their form. Metal plating sliding past and over one another, the familiar clicking and whirring sound of a transformation echoing around the destruction.

Soon six Cybertronian figures stood at the base of Megatron's throne, none of them moved an inch.

"Optimus, this is impossible. How could he create new sparks?" Ratchet asked the shocked Prime.

"I... do not know old friend"

"Autobots, I would like to introduce my new battalion, the Constructicons" Megatron spoke smugly as he waved his arm over the six robotic forms stood below him.

They all stood roughly the same size, all roughly the same colour of a dull yellow, and other than a few parts left over from their vehicle modes they were almost identical.

"Constructicons, DESTROY THE AUTOBOTS" Megatron cried out in triumph

"_We comply"_ came a voice devoid of all emotion from the six robots as they charged at our friends. As the battle began I took out my Bluetooth, gave one to Miko and dialled up Raf.

"Raf? You getting this?" I asked the boy who was still at base. Before I had followed Miko I had told him of my intentions. Hopefully by now he had commandeered a satellite as was watching the action.

"Yeah Jack, we've got a feed. What are those things?" he asked

"We don't know, but it's up the bots to stop them. Have you found any survivors?"

"Yeah, I'll pass you over to agent Fowler for the specifics" the small teenager replied.

I looked around myself but could see no sign of people; surely Megatron wouldn't have killed them all, although I couldn't rule it out. The guy was a maniac, and viewed humanity as insects he had no problem squashing.

"Jack, this is Fowler, old Megs has about six hundred civilians holed up about four hundred metres from your current position. He seems to have set up some sort of energy barrier around them, that's keeping them penned in"

"Okay, can you get a 'bridge open in there?" I acknowledged

"No can do son, whatever that barrier is, its stopping any signals, in or out. You're going to have to try and disable it somehow" Fowler explained

"Any 'cons around?" I asked

"Only one, guarding the northeast perimeter of the barrier. My guess is that is where the control will be" the agent answered.

"Alright, everyone keep your lines open, Raf try and find out anything you can on Megatron's new pets, agent Fowler, keep up the surveillance, lets us know if any more 'cons show up, and mom get ready, if this works then I think you're going to have a few casualties to deal with. And Miko, you're with me"

With everybody knowing what their tasks were Miko and I set off to find the barrier. We snuck around Megatron's foothill of command and it wasn't long before we found the purple light barrier that contained hundreds of frightened humans. They were all docile, some holding each other in comfort, some sobbing uncontrollably, but all being as quiet and still as possible.

"So fearless leader, got any grand plans?" Miko asked

I remained silent, looking around the barrier for any weak points. The thing was huge; a massive circumference of purple glowing light that I assumed would be harmful if contact was made. On the far side I could see a single Vehicon guarding what I hoped would be some sort of control console. It was going to take a few minutes to get to the other side, which would mean longer out in the open.

"Miko, we have to get to that console" I said with a grim determination

"Duh, even I know that, but what are we going to' do when we get there?"

"We'll figure that out later, for now let's just get over there. Quietly" I replied

"Yes sir" she said, adding an overly animated salute

Making our way towards the console, we got closer to the people trapped inside. Not one of them looked up, all fixated on the ground as if willing it to open and save them from this nightmare. We were soon approaching the Vehicon and it was time to think of a way to move the massive metal foot soldier.

"I'll just distract him" Miko said, sauntering off in the decepticons direction.

"Wait" I whispered as I reached out to grab her arm, stopping her from completing her foolish action.

"We don't know how to operate the console, so wait here. Raf?" I said turning my attention to the young techno head.

"I'm here Jack, but I can't really help from here, I'd need access to the controls" the small teenager explained.

I knew I couldn't let the fragile young boy come here; the place was as close to hell as any living person should ever see. I needed a new plan, and quick. The gunfire from the other side of Megatron's throne crested hill top was becoming more and more erratic; leading me to believe the battle was not going well.

"Okay Raf, just stay put and keep trying to find anything on those new 'cons"

As I gazed around again I could see something moving from the inside the wall of light. I gestured for Miko to follow and we slowly edged closer to the movement. I could see a man digging slowly, trying to make a divot below the beam; much like a fox would do to a fence. It was a good idea, but it would take far too long to get everyone out. It did however give me an idea.

I tried to get the diggers attention by moving some earth from our side. He looked up with a face of shock and fright.

"Shhh, it's okay. We're here to help, but I'm going to need to borrow your hole" I said as calmingly as I could.

The man who looked to be in his twenties just shook on the spot. These people had clearly been through quite an ordeal and my presence had spooked him. He backed away and as he did so more faces turned to stare at us, inching themselves further away from us. I continued to dig as Miko kept a look out, when I felt the opening was sufficient I was surprised to see the crowd had dispersed in front of us. Even though that man had started this excavation project, I don't think he had planned on what to do when it was finished.

I told Miko my plan and she just stared at me blankly,

"Are you crazy Darby, that's suicide" she scolded me

"We have no choice Miko, I have to try. Now go and take cover and stay out of sight" I said, still trying to mask my fear with false confidence.

As she made her way to a small pile of rubble I could see her turning to look at me with fear in her eyes. When I saw she was safely hidden a picked up a small rock and made my way towards my target. At a distance that would give me a good head start I pulled my arm back and launched my small projectile. Time seemed to slow as I watched the rock, no bigger than my fist, sail towards the 'con. As soon as it made contact I waved at my enemy to make sure I had his attention.

"Human, Stay where you are" he said forcefully as he made his way towards me,

I turned and ran. My legs pumping as much as I could. My injured limb however refused to keep up with what my brain willed it to do, and I could sense the 'con gaining on me. I could see the opening, only about fifty meters. My lungs were burning, the smoke making every breath sting as my lungs tried to filter it for its oxygen. Thirty meters. I could feel my pace slowing, the ground shaking more forcefully as the 'con got closer to me, in the corner of my eye I could see a shape coming towards my right. I tried to dodge but it was too late.

I was airborne, flying uncontrollably through the air. The 'con had reached out to grab me, but my attempted sidestep had meant I received a Cybertronian slap for my troubles. I hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop about five meters from Miko's hiding place. I could feel the Vehicon making his way towards me, and I willed Miko to stay hidden. I should have known better.

"Hey, you. That's my friend you just bitch slapped!" I heard the spunky girl yell out.

I looked up to see the 'cons attention turn my already running friend. She was heading for the opening in the barrier. I watched in awe as Miko dove with a grace I never believe the girl to have. Heading straight into the ditch and scrambling through into the pen. The 'con had built up too much speed in its pursuit to stop and went crashing into the purple light, throwing up a massive surge of energy that made my hairs stand on end. The massive metal body twitched and contorted as if he was being electrocuted, then the section of the barrier blinked out and the 'con fell to the ground. Smoke poured out of every joint in his metal plating, even his now blackened and cracked optic visor seemed to billow with a small stream.

I scrambled to my feet, checked myself over quickly, just cuts and bruises, but I was defiantly going to feel it tomorrow. I glanced around and then saw Miko lying motionless on the floor.

"MIKO" I yelled in pure fear as I moved as fast as I could to her seemingly lifeless body.

I slid down to my knees by her side and held her by her shoulders.

"Please Miko, be okay" I said as my voice cracked

She opened her eyes and grinned.

"Got 'cha" she giggled

"That's...That's just...Evil Miko, pure evil" I reprimanded her, but could not contain the grin of relief that covered my face.

"Jack, you did it, we can get a 'bridge through the barrier" Rafs voice came over the comm.

"Miko did it Raf, now get that 'bridge open" I said, helping the Japanese girl to her feet.

"Your pretty fierce" I told Miko quietly, earning a small smile of remembrance before the ground bridge came to life behind us.

"Okay, everyone listen, you all need to go through this light, there are people on the other side who will help you" I shouted at the crowd. Nobody moved.

"Come on, before anymore of them come, you have to all move. NOW" I was getting frustrated, I understood that they were scared, but this was a way out. Or maybe they didn't believe us.

"Miko, I need you to go through the bridge, it will show them it's safe." I told her.

"No way, I'm staying"

"You can come back Miko; I just need you to go through to convince these people to move"

"Oh, Okay" she accepted and ran through the swirling vortex.

"See, its safe, please just get out of here" I was now pleading with the crowd. There were over six hundred of them, so the sooner they got a move on the more chance of all of them getting through. I saw one man step forward, it was the one we found digging the hole, he slowly made his way towards the 'bridge. He looked at me and I smiled and nodded, conveying that this was the best course of action. He tentatively made his way into the vortex and after hesitating slightly continued on until he disappeared. The mood in the crowd changed quickly as they all charged towards the ground bridge.

I should have expected this, but didn't think it would be so brutal. They pushed and shoved each other, a few went down and seemed to get trampled, but soon got back up. As I watched them make their way towards freedom the comm' fired up again.

"Jack, can you hear me"

"Go ahead Raf"

"Jack, it's those new 'cons, they're not 'cons"

"What?" I asked, completely confused

"I know they're there because I can see them on the satellite feed, but they don't show up on the scanners. They don't have a signal" the boy explained.

"Could it be some kind of stealth tech?"

"Its not that the signal is hidden Jack, it's that it's just not there. The Cybertronians spark is what gives off the signal that we can track, it's very hard to mask"

"So what does this mean?" I said, fearful of the answer.

"I don't really know, there is something being transmitted from them, but it will take time to get into. All I can tell you for sure is that these aren't Cybertronians. Their something else entirely. Something we don't know how to fight!"

"Okay, just try and crack that signal" I told him as I signed off.

Still looking around to make sure no more 'cons showed up I heard somebody shouting my name.

"JACK"

I looked around franticly to see Sierra running up to me.

"Sierra, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked as she ran into me and grabbed me in an anxious embrace.

"After you left, me and mom drove here to visit my aunt. Oh god Jack, what's happening?" She was sobbing in fits, her breathing was almost hysterical. I looked up to see a middle aged woman who looked so much like the girl who had now attached herself to me, that I knew it must be her mother.

She didn't say anything but tried to pry her daughter away from me in order to follow the rest of the crowd.

"You have to go Sierra, just go with your mom, it will be okay"

Just I said this we heard an angered growl from somewhere to our left as a figure flew through the air towards us. The body landed and slid along the ground, once the dust settled I could see it was my partner. She shook her head as if trying to regain her senses and looked around. Energon was leaking from several places, and while didn't look too serious, I couldn't hide my worry.

She looked around, her optics looking dazed, but as soon as she saw us, they regained their composure. They also looked angry. She got up and ran towards us.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM" she screamed.

"This is not the time or place!" I returned forcefully.

"I'm fighting for our lives, and your here, with her" she almost cried

"NO, I'm trying to get these people out of here, she was just leaving, but this has got to STOP" I shouted at her.

Whatever was making her act like this was clearly getting worse. I could understand the battle might have frayed her emotions to a desperate point, but this crazy over protectiveness was getting extremely dangerous.

"Your right Jack... It stops now" she said as she looked at me with feeling less optics.

I heard her arm shift into its blaster form as she levelled it at us.

"What are you DOING?" I yelled at her.

I pushed Sierra away towards her mom and turned to face my guardian.

"You're going to shoot me?" I asked in disbelief

"Of course not" she answered flatly as she shifted her aim.

Pointing straight and the now frenzied shaking form of Sierra.

...

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN... Another cliff hanger, which should please 'ole GreenReticule. Anyhoo, sorry for the late update, the reason being I've been to London to enjoy some Olympic goodness. The reason I'm telling you this is because, well, I'm telling everyone that I got to be there. So awesome.**

**No reaction from Jacks daughter in this chapter, it was getting a bit long as we're getting to the business end of big battleness, but she will be back next time I think.**

**Now on to my main reason for this little chat, I'm totally new to this fanfic stuff so I have some questions, mainly what in the blue hell is an OOC? I get most of these little acronyms, but I can't figure that one out. Also, what is fluff? Is it just nonsense?**

**Thanks for all the reviews and follows and stuff too, really appreciated!**

**As I pointed out last time I don't own transformers, just thought I'd say it again since people do it a lot.**

**Catch you next time.**


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